I Think We're Alone Now
by SamanthaSuex3
Summary: Ginny Weasley is a 22 year old single mother. Oliver Wood is a 27 year old single hottie. When the two reuniute will sparks fly?
1. The beginning

Hey! I'm back! Okay i adopted this story from Lia06 so the next 22 chapters are hers with changes i've made

Disclaimer: I now own this story but it orginally belonged to lia06.

Oliver Wood walked into the Burrow, the home of the Weasley family, or rather the home of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. All their children had moved out. Charlie had married a Romanian girl named Maya and they lived in Romania. Bill had married Angelina Johnson, a shock to everyone who knew the couple but they were happy. Percy had married Penelope Clearwater and was sucking up to his father constantly because his father had been in the Order of the Phoenix before Voldemort's death. Fred had married Katie Bell, no surprise in the end. In addition, George had married Alicia Spinnet. Ron was reportedly dating Luna Lovegood. Oliver had been shocked but then he talked to Harry who looked at him and said, "Well, it'sabout time he came to his senses." Moreover, all Oliver had heard from Harry and the Weasleys about Ginny was that she was still alive and she did not live at home anymore.

It was Fred and George is twenty-forth birthday and their mum had insisted on giving them a big party. Oliver did not see anyone he knew immediately. Then he walked into a young redheaded woman carrying a baby in her arms, knocking them over. Oliver gasped. "Oh I'm so sorry," he said bending over to help the woman get up. He saw her face and immediately he knew that this was Ginny Weasley. Once he had her back on her feet he said, "Ginny?"

Ginny nodded. "It's me. Oliver Wood? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, your brothers invited me," he said. Merlin, when had Ginny gotten to be so beautiful? She was so curvy and graceful, not like him.

She smiled. "That was nice of them. Would you like to see them?"

"Yes," he said. "Where are they?"

"They're in the backyard with Katie, Alicia, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Charlie, Maya, Bill, and Alicia. I was actually just heading out there."

"Well, then I'll join you."

As they walked out, Oliver said, "So is this one of your nieces?"

Ginny shook her head shyly. "This is my daughter, Kayleigh Estelle Weasley, but we call her Kallie instead. I'm not married. Her father is my former boss, but that's another story that I'm sure you don't need to hear."

Oliver nodded and followed her through the crowd of people out into the backyard. Fred rushed over to them and grabbed Oliver's hand. "Oliver, you old pal, how are you? It's simply smashing to see you."

George then came over. "Oliver, it's most delightful to see. How have you been?"

Oliver laughed. "I'm fine. Happy birthday to the both of you."

The twins smiled and thanked him. Then Harry came over. "Ginny, can I borrow Kallie? Hermione and I are simply dying to spend some time with our favorite goddaughter."

Ginny handed her daughter over. "Just be careful with her and make sure that Lillie and James are careful with her."

"Yes, Mum," Harry, teased. "I'll treat her like she's my own daughter."

Lillie and James were Harry and Hermione's three-year-old twins. Harry and Hermione had married the summer after seventh year and had been married for four years. Harry and Hermione also had a fourteen-month-old son named Sirius. Harry took his four-month-old goddaughter over to area where the other young children were playing. Oliver was calmly talking with Fred, George, Ginny, and Charlie about Quidditch when Charlie swore. "Frig! Why did he have to come?"

Everyone turned to see Michael Corner walk in. Oliver looked at Charlie. "What do you have against him?"

"He's Kallie's father," Charlie said with pure rage in his eyes. "Right after Ginny and Colin Creevey broke up last year; he took Ginny to a pub, got her drunk and raped her. The result was Kallie."

Fred walked up to Michael. "What are you doing here?" he snarled with pure hatred.

"I just wanted to wish my friends a happy birthday," Michael said innocently.

"You're no friend of mine," Fred hissed. "No friend of mine would get my sister drunk and rape her. No friend of mine would abandon my sister when the aforementioned incident left her pregnant. I hate you. If you don't remove yourself from my parents' backyard now, I will do it for you."

Michael stared at Fred. "Well, fine, I'll leave. However, I want you to know that everything was just an accident. I did not mean to sleep with your sister. It was just the alcohol. And I won't leave until Ginny tells me she wants me to leave."

Oliver looked at Ginny and saw tears streaming down her face. "Michael, you didn't have a single drink that night. I remember. I drank both your drinks and my own. I was so drunk I did not know what I was doing. Michael, just go away. I want you out of my life and out of Kallie's. Michael, get the hell out of this yard and my life."

Michael walked back out of the yard and, to Oliver's shock; Ginny was practically clinging to him. He wrapped his arm around her and asked, "Are you all right?"

Tears were still pouring down her cheeks and she was shaking. "I hate him. I hate him," she kept repeating the three words repeatedly.

Oliver led her over to a chair and helped her sit down. She looked up at him. "I guess you know the story of where I got my daughter from. I just wish he had not shown up here. I have not seen him since I found out I was pregnant. I left my job at the Ministry and started working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for Fred and George. I live with Harry and Hermione now."

Oliver nodded. "Are you going to be okay?"

She shrugged. "I think so. It was just a very unwelcome shock."

Oliver nodded. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to talk to your brothers again."

She smiled. "Go ahead. I'm not keeping you here."

He got up and walked over to her brothers confused by her cryptic response. Then he saw Professor McGonagall go over to her and start talking to her. He spent much of the party watching Ginny out of the corner of his eye. She did not seem to be having as much fun ever since Michael had shown up.

Around nine o'clock, Ginny was sitting on the couch talking to Professor McGonagall. "Ginny," her old Transfiguration mistress said. "Professor Dumbledore is looking for a new Charms teacher. I seem to recall that you have a great deal of talent with Charms and I was thinking you should apply for the position."

Ginny was shocked. "Me? Teach at Hogwarts? However, I am only twenty-one. Surely there are older and more qualified people around."

"It never hurts to try, Ginny," the professor said wisely. "Just try. If you are not accepted for the position, it is nothing lost. In addition, it is an amazing opportunity. Just think about it and owl me when you decide."

Ginny nodded. "I will. I am interested in the position. I was just a little shocked that I was being considered. I have one last question. What about Callie? Did Professor Dumbledore say anything about that?"

Professor Dumbledore himself walked over just then. "You can bring her with you if you take the position. The rest of the staff would be more than happy to help take care of her. She is a dear little girl, very much like her mother and nothing at all like her father. And Ginny, if you want the job, it's yours."

Ginny smiled. "Thank you, professor."

"It is all my pleasure," he replied.

Mrs. Weasley had invited Oliver to stay for the night since it was so late and he eagerly accepted the invitation. "Oliver," Mrs. Weasley said. "You will be sleeping on the couch. I'm sorry but all of my children are staying here with their families."

"And you don't want to share a room with Ron," Ginny put in. "Luna went home hours ago because they had another stupid spat about heaven knows what and so Ron will spend the whole night trying to figure out how to resolve this spat. So, like me, you're stuck in the living room." She said the last sentence with a bit of bitterness directed at her mother.

Oliver gasped. He was going to be sharing the living room with Ginny. Mrs. Weasley turned to him. "Oliver, I should warn you. Kallie will keep you from sleeping most of the night. Her mother is a rather heavy sleeper and she cries and cries when she wants to eat."

Oliver nodded. "It's all right. I'll catch up on my sleeping when I get home." He could have Apparated home now but he was tired and just wanted to lie down.

Oliver had been asleep for almost three hours when he woke up to the sound of a baby screaming. He opened his eyes slowly wondering where he was. Then he remembered he was in the Weasleys' living room and the baby was Ginny's daughter. As Mrs. Weasley had predicted, Ginny was not waking up. He debated whether he should wake her up. Then he looked at the crying baby and went over to the couch Ginny was sleeping on. He said, "Ginny, get up. Your daughter needs you." She did not move. He kept trying, but she would not wake up. Finally, he shook her and her eyes flew open. "Huh?" she mumbled. "What's the matter?"

"Your daughter needs you."

She nodded and walked over to the cradle Kallie was sleeping in. She picked up her daughter and carried her back to the couch. "You can go back to sleep," she said. "And I should warn you, I feed her myself."

Oliver was not sure what the last remark meant but then he saw her bare her left breast and hold her daughter level with it. Then the baby started sucking. Oliver started looking at the famous Weasley clock. This was too much for him. Ginny Weasley was a mother, a single mother. She looked at him. "I saw Professor Dumbledore talking to you earlier."

"Yeah," Oliver said, leaning his head on the pillows. "He heard that I was thinking about giving up professional Quidditch so I could have a more normal life and he was wondering if I was interested in teaching Arithmancy. Apparently, the old teacher left and he needs a new teacher before the new term starts in six weeks. He said he was offering you the position as the new Charms teacher."

She nodded. "Well, first he had McGonagall tell me it was open and I should apply for it but then he offered it to me. I am going to accept it. Its better money that working at 3W and it will be better for Kallie. I feel like I've overstayed my welcome at Harry and Hermione's anyway, so this came along at the perfect time."

Oliver nodded. He was still uncomfortable looking at Ginny. He knew that it was perfectly natural for mothers to breastfeed their children but it was so hard to think of Ginny as anything other than Fred and George's sister. Thinking of her as someone's mother was so strange although Callie did have the traditional Weasley red hair.

Ginny was watching Oliver out of the corner of her eye. He had always been handsome when they were at Hogwarts and nothing in that department had changed recently. He still had dark hair and gorgeous eyes. He was still a long, skinny beanpole. She smiled; he was so uncomfortable with the idea of her breastfeeding Callie. She remembered once when Lillie and James were about three months old; the Potters were at the Burrow for dinner and after dinner, Hermione had been breastfeeding Lily. Ron had been so uncomfortable with it he left the room. Harry had seemed comfortable but Hermione told her that when the twins were born Harry had been anything but comfortable with the idea that his children got their food from their mother's breasts. After a few days though, he had gotten used to it.

The pair sat in silence for a while. Finally, Oliver cleared his throat and asked, "How old is she?"

"Kallie?" Ginny said. "She's almost four months old. She was born at the end of March, March 31 to be precise. She'll be four months old on Harry's birthday."

Oliver nodded. "She's so little. I have six younger sisters and none of them were that small when they were four months old."

"She was born over a month early," Ginny said, almost sadly. "She wasn't due until May 7 but she insisted on being born five weeks early. Moreover, she was so small when she was born, they were not sure she would make it. I was scared when she was born. She was so small and her lungs weren't strong enough to support her." Ginny's eyes were filling with tears as she recalled the terror she felt when she was told her baby might not live. "It was so horrible. The mediwitches at St. Mungo's had her hooked up to these Muggle machines that they used for babies who are too small and they aren't ready to be born but yet they're born anyway."

Oliver walked over to the other couch and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder. "It's all right. She is alive now. You did not lose her. It is okay. Shh, do not cry. Oh, sweetie, do not cry. It is all right. You have Kallie now; she lived It's going to be all right."

Sweetie? Ginny thought. Since when does Oliver Wood call me sweetie? Nevertheless, she was grateful for him being there and trying to comfort her. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Kallie seemed to be done and so she covered her breast back up and settled the baby in her arms so she could burp her.

Oliver looked at the baby. She was so adorable. She had soft red hair and green eyes. She did not have freckles yet. He just wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her. He looked at Ginny. "Ginny, has anyone ever told you how much Kallie looks like you?"

Ginny smiled. "The day she was born, Professor Dumbledore told me that she looked exactly like me and nothing at all like Michael Corner."

"He's right," Oliver, said worriedly reaching out to stroke Kallie's arm. To his shock, she grabbed his outstretched finger in her little fist and pulled his finger to her mouth. Then she started sucking on it.

Ginny smiled at him. "She likes you. She likes you a lot."

Oliver was shocked. "She does?"

"She does," Ginny affirmed. "She only sucks on your finger if she likes you. And she likes you very much if she decides to suck your finger this quickly."

Oliver smiled as Ginny leaned her head on his shoulder. A little later, he realized Ginny had fallen asleep as had Callie. He smiled and joined them in the lands of sleep. His last thought before he fell asleep was the daughter loves me; now I just need to get the mother to love me.

Okay here is who is married to who..

Ginny- Single one daughter, Kayleigh Estelle

Harry and Hermione- Twins, Liliana and James and a 14 month old, Sirius

Charlie and Maya

Bill and Angelina

Percy and Penelope

Katie and Fred

George and Alicia

and Ron and Luna are dating


	2. morning announcements

Ron walked into the living room the next morning and screamed. Oliver Wood was sitting on the couch with his arm around Ginny who was holding Kallie in her arms. All three of them were sleeping. Ron screamed out of pure and utter shock. His sister was sleeping in the arms of Oliver Wood, well, sort of. Fred and Katie came running downstairs followed closely by George and Alicia. "What's going on?" Fred demanded.

"Why did you have to scream like the devil was at your heals?" Katie said. "It's only seven in the morning."

Ron just pointed to the couch in silence. George's mouth fell open and Fred whispered, "Oh dear Lord!"

Oliver's eyes flew open as he heard loud voices. Ginny and Kallie were still asleep. Then he looked up and saw Ron, Fred, Katie, George, and Alicia standing there. "What are you doing with my sister?" George demanded hotly. "Why are you and she sleeping on the same couch?"

"She got upset in the middle of the night," Oliver said slowly. "It was about Michael Corner coming yesterday and I was comforting her. In addition, we fell asleep. It was nothing more."

George glared at him. "I'd like to hear Ginny's version of that story but you do sound pretty believable."

Alicia put her head on her husband's shoulder. "George, I trust him. He is a good man. He would not do that with your sister. George, he is an honest man. Just trust him. He is your friend after all. In addition, it makes sense that seeing Michael would upset Ginny. He did mess up her life entirely."

Oliver said, "Fred, George, Ron, I have nothing but respect for your sister. I didn't mean to fall asleep with her."

"Besides," Katie said. "They were both sitting on the couch. It is fine. Ollie isn't a jerk like Michael."

Oliver sighed in relief. The women who could convince Fred and George to do anything were defending him. He was safe. Just then, he felt Ginny stirring next to him. She opened her eyes. "What time is it?" she murmured.

"About seven," George said.

"In the morning?" she asked.

Oliver nodded. She moaned and slammed her head into his arm. "Ugh, I haven't slept this late since Kallie was born." She looked at the baby in her arms. "And she's still asleep! She hasn't slept this late in years."

"Look at her!" George said. "She's leaning her head against Oliver's chest."

Ginny nodded. "She seems to like him for some reason. When she woke up to eat this morning, I fed her and after I burped her, she fell asleep sucking on Oliver's fingers."

Katie smiled. "So Oliver, when's the wedding?"

"What?" Oliver gasped. "The wedding?"

"Yeah," Alicia said. "The wedding, you're the first man whose fingers Callie has ever sucked. She will not even suck her uncles' fingers, Harry's, or Dad Weasley. She only sucks her mother's fingers. She won't even suck Mum Weasley's fingers."

Oliver gasped. "I'm only the second person whose fingers she's sucked. Whoa, so she really likes me."

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, she does. That is the kind of girl she is. She is very picky about who she likes."

Oliver went home after breakfast. When he got there, there was an owl from Professor Dumbledore waiting for him. Oliver took the letter off the owl's leg and read it.

_Dear Oliver,_

Greetings. I will be sending Minerva over to your flat in the next few days with the teacher's manuals for the Arithmancy courses. Please arrive at Hogwarts by August 20 for staff meetings. Please send me a letter telling me when I should have Minerva bring the books to your flat.

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts_

Oliver looked at the table where Professor Dumbledore's owl sat waiting. There was a snowy white owl sitting there. Oliver immediately recognized it as Harry and Hermione's owl, Hedwig. Oliver realized that Hedwig had to be about eleven years old seeing as Harry had bought her when he was eleven and now he was twenty-two. Harry and Hermione would probably need to buy a new owl soon. He took the letter off Hedwig's leg and read it.

_Oliver,_

Congratulations on being offered the job at Hogwarts. To celebrate, Hermione and I would like you to join us for dinner tomorrow night at six o'clock. Sirius would love to see his godfather; I know he misses you. He is just learning to talk. You should see him; he is so cute. He can only say things like "Mama" and "Papa." He calls Lillie "Willy" and James is "Boo." Nevertheless, the other day he looked at me and said, "Where Owie?" which Hermione says means, "Where is Ollie?"

If you do come to dinner, Ginny and Kallie will be there. Before, when you have come to dinner, it has always been on nights when Ginny has to close down 3W and Callie is at her grandmother's but they will both be there tomorrow night. Remus may also be joining us for dinner but I do not know if he will come. It all depends. Well, owl me and let me know if you can come tomorrow night.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter

Oliver immediately replied to Harry saying he most certainly be at dinner the next evening. He missed his godson, Sirius Oliver Potter. Harry and Hermione had insisted giving Sirius the middle name "Oliver" and on Oliver Wood being his godfather because of Oliver's role in the battle in which Harry had killed Lord Voldemort. And it was because of Sirius birth that Oliver had decided to quit playing professional Quidditch.

Oliver then wrote to Professor Dumbledore telling him Professor McGonagall could come over the next day around noon. He smiled thinking of the two professors. For ages, he had, like everyone else, presumed that they were just very good friends. But two years after he graduated, he discovered that they were married. That summer he had discovered many things. He had discovered the Order of the Phoenix that summer.

**Flashback**

Oliver had gone over to the Weasleys for dinner. After dinner, Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had gone out in the backyard to de-gnome the garden. They told Mrs. Weasley it would be fun. She just sighed and let them go. Once they were gone she said, "They just want to torture the gnomes. Those six!" She sighed. "Fred and George don't even live here anymore but whenever they're home they have to torture the gnomes."

Oliver was sitting in the living room talking to Bill when someone knocked on the door. Mrs. Weasley answered the door. "Remus! What a surprise!"

It was even more of a surprise for Oliver when his old Defense against the Dark Arts teacher walked into the room. Bill jumped up. "Remus! How are you?"

Professor Lupin, as Oliver had known him, smiled. "I've been well. I am here on business. Could you call Harry in here, Molly?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Do you need anyone else?"

"Who else is out there?"

"The twins, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny."

"Get them all. This is big."

A minute later, Harry came in being closely trailed by Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and the twins. "What's the big new, Remus?" Harry said. "This better be better than last time when you finally decided to tell us that Dumbledore and McGonagall are married."

"Dumbledore and McGonagall are married?" Oliver asked.

"Yep, they've been married for like forty years," Ginny said offhandedly.

"And they never told the students?" Oliver said.

"Nope," Harry said sitting down next to Oliver. "It's a long story and I don't have that kind of time. Remus, is he allowed to hear what you're going to tell us?" He was pointing to Oliver. "He's not in the Order but he's a nice guy and he was in Gryffindor."

Remus looked at Oliver. "Son, have you ever heard of something called the Order of the Phoenix?"

Oliver shook his head slowly. "Never in my life, why?"

"Because you just found yourself in the middle of one of its meetings," a new voice said. Professor Dumbledore walked in closely followed by Professor McGonagall and Alastor Moody. "Everyone, sit down."

Everyone sat down and McGonagall spoke, "Wood, you can either leave now or stay and find out what the Order of the Phoenix is and join its ranks. This much I will tell you before you decide. The Order of the Phoenix is essentially an army for fighting Voldemort."

Oliver looked around the room at the faces gathered. This seemed real. He nodded. "I'll stay."

**End Flashback**

Oliver sighed remembering that night. He had found out what the Order of the Phoenix was and joined with them in fighting the Dark Side.

When Ginny got home, she found a letter from Dumbledore just like Oliver is waiting for her. She told him McGonagall could come by around dinnertime and stay for dinner. She showed Hermione the letter. "It's all right if she does that, isn't it?"

Hermione smiled. "Of course, I'm sure she'd love to see her godchildren. I should warn you though. Oliver is also coming to dinner. He wants to see his godson."

"All right," Ginny said. "That's fine. Hold it; who is Oliver's godson?"

"Sirius Oliver Potter," Hermione said. "It's in honor of the part he played in defeating Voldemort."

Ginny nodded. "And Lily and James are McGonagall's godchildren."

"James Albus Potter and Liliana or Lillie, Minerva Potter, their godparents are Dumbledore and McGonagall."

Ginny nodded. "Well, I need to get to work. Someone has to open up 3W, you know."

Ginny stood behind the counter of 3W. There were a few teenagers looking around but nothing interesting was happening. Most of their customers were teenaged boys. Suddenly, Fred walked out of the fireplace with Katie and their children, Arthur, Molly, and Maggie. "So, how's business?" he asked.

"Slow," Ginny replied. "Most people are just browsing. You know, it's one of those days."

Fred nodded. "Katie has to take the munchkins shopping, so I brought her in with me."

Ginny smiled. "Is George coming in today?"

"No," Fred said. "Apparently, he has to go check something out up at the Hogsmeade shop. Apparently, there was an explosion or something. It was huge mess, so he's going to deal with it."

Ginny nodded and watched as Katie and Fred kissed. Then Katie left with their children to go shopping. Fred came back behind the counter to join his little sister. "So, what do you think of Oliver Wood?"

She shrugged. "He's nice and he seems to like Kallie. Better yet, she seems to like him. In addition, he is handsome. He is a good person. I like him. I do not know. I guess I could date him; he seems like he'd be okay with dating a single mother and all."

"He would be," Fred said. "I talked to him this morning while you were upstairs getting dressed, all of us talked to him. He respects you and he is interested in you."

Ginny smiled. "Well, thanks for the lowdown. Now I have a question. Does he really have six younger sisters or was he just teasing me last night?"

"Oh he has six younger sisters," Fred said. "Six annoying bratty little sisters. They're all several years younger than him. The closest to him in age is eight years younger than him. When I was younger and you were annoying me, I would go over there and be instantly grateful that you were my sister. You do not spend hours talking about boys or doing your make-up. You are reasonable. In fact, compared to them, you're an angel."

"I didn't know he had siblings. I thought he was an only child."

"Yeah, well, see if you only ever saw him at Quidditch stuff, you'd think that because his sisters never go to that kind of stuff. He thinks they're just dumb blondes."

"Are they blondes?"

"Most of them, yeah," said a lilting Scottish accent.

Ginny looked up and saw Oliver Wood. Fred ran to him. "Oliver, I must show you our latest products to arrive."

"Or rather that you and George have invented," Ginny muttered. "You make all your products in the back room."

"Please ignore my sister. She believes in being honest," Fred said.

Oliver smiled. "I don't have a problem with honest people. I was actually on my way to flourish and Blots when I saw Michael Corner headed this way and I thought I'd stop in and warn you two."

Fred nodded. "Ginny, go in the back and do something there. Oliver, act natural, like a regular customer."

Ginny went in the back room barely a minute before Michael walked in. He walked up to Fred. "How's your sister?"

"Leave now and never come back," Fred said coldly. "I reserve the right to expel customers from my shop forcibly and I will do that if you don't leave now. Stop bothering my sister. Last night, she told you she never wanted to see you again. Just leave her alone."

"But I have a right to see my daughter," Michael said.

"What if she isn't your daughter?" Oliver said.

"What?" Michael said. "But she got pregnant right after that night with me."

"And she spent the next week with me," Oliver said. "Kallie is my daughter; I just didn't know about her until last night. I'd been out of town with the National Team for the past ten months."

Michael looked at him. "Are you serious?"

"Of course he's serious," Fred said. "That kid has Oliver's eyes most definitely. Now, shoo, get out of here."

After Michael left, Ginny flew out of the back room. "Oliver, why did you say that? Why did you say you were Kallie's father?"

"I figured Michael wouldn't leave you alone as long as he thought he was Callie's father and besides he doesn't deserve you and Kallie, so I had to come up with a reason for him to get out of your life."

Ginny hugged Oliver. "Thank you so much, Oliver. You have no idea how much this means to me." She kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

He hugged her back. "You're welcome. Ginny, it is the least I could do for a friend. You don't deserve a jerk like him."

Fred nodded. "You deserve so much more, so much better. You deserve someone like Oliver. You know what? You two should try dating each other, especially if Oliver is Kallie's father," he said with a wink.

Ginny slugged Fred playfully. "Fred, you're too much." Then she kissed Oliver's cheek again. "Oliver, you're the best."

An- Chapter 2 is up. I am hoping to revise two chapters every day or every other day. I got a review in with in like 10 minutes of putting the story up so I am open to disagreement about my story. I am also sorry if you like Calandra Rose, but I was thinking today, when she gets older, Callie Wood does not sound very flowing to me. I think that Kallie will use Kayleigh and might go by ether Elle for her middle name (Estelle) or Kallie to close friends and family.

Sam


	3. Kallie's new dad

Oliver sat down next to Ginny in the back room. "So, you don't mind that I said I was Kallie's dad? I mean, I was probably in Puddlemore then."

"Okay, where were you at the end of last July and the beginning of last August?" Ginny asked.

Oliver thought for a moment. "Umm, I was in London visiting Harry and Hermione. Sirius was about two months old and I was visiting my favorite godson."

"Okay, you were around when I got pregnant. I have another question. What was your role in the battle the night Voldemort died? I remember you being there but I don't remember very much of what happened because Lucius Malfoy attacked me and knocked me out."

"Well, do you remember where the fight was?"

She nodded. "It was in the Great Hall at school. I remember afterwards the room was a mess."

"Okay, so you remember that the Death Eaters stormed the Great Hall, Dumbledore got all the students out except you, Ron, Harry, and Hermione."

She nodded.

"And the members of the Order of the Phoenix were there already."

"And it was a huge battle. I remember most of it except the part where Harry killed Voldemort."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember Malfoy sneaking up behind Harry, I screamed, he turned around, and I woke up the next morning in the hospital wing."

"Then you need some major details filled in," Oliver said. "Get comfortable because this is going to take quite some time."

**Flashback**

Lucius Malfoy hurled four curses at Ginny Weasley in about thirty seconds it seemed. She fell to the floor unconscious. Bill Weasley yelled, "You fucking bastard!" and flew at Malfoy screaming, "Avada Kedavra!" Malfoy fell to the floor, dead.

Then all hell broke loose. Bellatrix Lestrange rushed at Bill to kill him but Oliver Wood killed her first. Bill looked at Oliver, "Thanks, man." Oliver spun around and killed a man attacking Harry. Then they looked up to see Pettigrew attacking McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore swore under his breath and attacked Pettigrew, killing him. Lupin who was standing next to Oliver and Bill said, "I've never seen him that angry before."

Then Voldemort and Harry began circling. The room went deathly silent. It seemed as though Voldemort and Harry were both waiting for the other one to make the first move. It seemed like an eternity before Harry finally pointed his wand at Voldemort and yelled in the loudest and angriest voice anyone had ever heard, "You killed my parents; I hate you! You destroyed the lives of hundreds of innocent people; you deserve death! Other people might be more lenient with you but I will not be. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

At that same moment, every other member of the Order of the Phoenix pointed their wands at the Death Eaters and killed them in the exact same way Harry had killed Voldemort. Oliver and Bill rushed to Harry's side followed closely by Lupin and Tonks. Harry looked at Tonks and her magenta hair in its Shirley Temple curls. "We did it. It is over. We really did it and it's really over."

A minute later, Professor McGonagall had Harry enveloped in a huge hug. They were both crying tears of joy and grief, joy that Voldemort was gone and grief for those who had given their life in the fight. Oliver saw the Harry was clinging to the woman's robes as if for dear life. When Harry let go of his teacher, he fell into Mrs. Weasley's arms and then hugged Tonks again. Then, he kissed Hermione and looked her in the eye. "I know this is kind of a bad time, but Hermione Jayne Granger, will you marry me?"

Hermione stared at him in shock and then kissed him for a full two minutes. "That meant yes," she said. "Now, let's get this place cleaned up."

Harry nodded. He and Bill carried Ron up to the hospital wing while Fred and Charlie took care of Ginny. George had to hobble up between Lupin and Wood since his leg had been broken. Finally, all the dead had been taken to someone who would see that the bodies were returned to the families and all injured were in the hospital wing. Harry, Oliver, Charlie, Fred, and Bill were just standing around the hospital wing waiting. Professor McGonagall looked at them. "I'm going to spend tonight with my husband, so if you five want my rooms, they're yours. Harry, I know you are not ready to go back to your house. Hermione wants to stay here with Ginny, so you don't have to worry about her."

"Thanks, Professor," Oliver said.

"Yeah, thanks," Bill said. "We'll take you up on that offer, if you don't mind us conjuring up more beds in your room."

She laughed. Then she smiled and nodded. "Go ahead. If you need to make the room bigger, have fun."

Bill smiled his thanks. "Oh, professor, one last question."

"What is it?"

"Can I have Angelina in there? Can Fred have Katie in there? And can Charlie have Maya in there?"

She moaned. "Go ahead. Oliver, Harry, if you want to sleep in my office, it is there."

Harry said, "We will. We wouldn't get any sleep in the other room anyway."

Oliver nodded. "What with all the celebratory sex and all, we'll be glad to have your office because some of us actually want to sleep."

Harry walked out of the room saying, "I could sleep for twenty years if I wanted to."

**End Flashback**

Ginny looked at Oliver. "You saved Bill's life? Without you, I wouldn't have my oldest brother." She kissed his cheek. "Thank you. And thank you for saving Harry."

He smiled. "You're welcome but just so you know, it was part instinct. And I wasn't about to let them kill my best friends."

Oliver was amazed that she was just warming right up to him. He put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulder. "You're amazing, you know," she whispered. "You saved my brother's life, you saved Harry's life, and you claimed to be Kallie's father just to help me. Oliver, you're an angel and the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Oliver kissed the top of her head. "Ginny, you know I just did that out of instinct."

"Yeah but it was still amazing. Don't discount yourself."

He smiled. "Your brothers are trying to set the two of us up, you know."

She nodded. "I know. Fred told me."

"Do you mind?"

"Do you?"

"I asked first," Oliver, insisted.

"Not really," she said shyly.

He kissed her on the lips. "I don't mind either."

Ginny put her hand on Oliver's shoulder cautiously. "Oliver, we need to take this slowly. I mean, I cannot just go out there and do whatever I what to. I have a daughter to worry about. Kallie's the most important thing in my life."

Oliver nodded. "I know. I know how important your daughter is to you. In addition, I need to move slowly too. I have not been in a serious, long-term relationship since my seventh year at Hogwarts. Moreover, I am making a ton of changes in my life. I am quitting playing Quidditch professionally and I have been doing that for eight years. I am starting a new job, well, so are you but the point is I understand. We need to go slowly so no one gets hurt."

Ginny smiled. "Good, I'm glad you get it."

Fred walked in. "Are you two done in here yet? I want to blow something up. I haven't gotten to blow anything up in ages."

Ginny jumped off the crate she and Oliver were sitting on and patted her brother's shoulder. "We're done. I'm going back to work."

Oliver and Ginny walked back into the shop. Oliver hugged Ginny. "Well, I'll see you at dinner tomorrow night."

"Okay," she said. "Just to warn you, McGonagall is coming to dinner. She's bringing my teacher's manuals over and dinnertime was the only time that worked for me, so we asked her to stay for dinner."

Oliver smiled. "Okay, well, good-bye."

"Good-bye."

Fred walked back into the shop about an hour after Oliver left. "You want to know something funny?" he asked his little sister who was ringing up a customer's order.

"Could you wait until I'm done here?" she asked.

"Sure," Fred said, sitting down on the counter.

When the line of customers had bought their purchases and left, Ginny looked at her brother. "What's your news that is so urgent you had to interrupt business?"

"Do you know who Oliver's last serious relationship was with?"

Ginny shook her head. "But I think you're going to tell me."

"Katherine Theresa Bell," he said.

"Katherine Theresa Bell," she said slowly. "As in Katherine Theresa Bell-Weasley more commonly known as Katie Weasley, once Bell? As in, Oliver's last serious relationship was with the woman you're now married to?"

Fred nodded. "That would be correct, my lady."

Ginny shook her head. "Whoa, that had to have been an interesting relationship."

"Oh, it was," Fred assured her. "Ollie is two years old than her and they started dating when he was a fifth year and she was a third year. They dated for two glorious years and then broke up because all they did was play Quidditch and fight."

Ginny laughed. "Surely they did more than that."

"Well, they also enjoyed making out on the couch in the common room," Fred joked. "But that's about it. They just played Quidditch, made out, and fought. It was a pointless relationship. I was so much better for Katie."

Katie walked into the shop just then. "I have two things to say. One is a question and the other is a statement. The question is who were better for me than?"

"Oliver Thomas Wood," her husband replied.

She smiled. "Okay, Fredrick, think what you want."

"What's your statement?" Ginny asked.

"Its closing time," she said pointing to the clock on the wall.

"I'll close up," Fred said. "Ginny, you go home."

Ginny hugged her brother. "Thanks. Katie, good luck with this idiot."

Katie hugged her sister-in-law. "Don't worry, Gin, I'm used to him. I can control him no problem. Remember, I am the mother of his children."

Ginny laughed and walked out.

Ginny walked into the Potter flat to see Harry sitting on the floor with Sirius on one leg and Kallie cradled in his leg. Lily and James were play around their father. James looked up when he heard her come in. He jumped up and ran over to her. "Auntie Ginny! Auntie Ginny!"

She picked him up. "James! James! How was your day?"

The little boy smiled. "I had fun! Mommy helped Lily and I make biscuits! They're very good biscuits too."

Harry laughed. "The kid has no ego problems."

Ginny walked over to him and set James down next to his father. Then Harry handed Kallie to her. "She misses you when you're at work, you know," he said.

Ginny sat down on the couch with her daughter. "I know but we need the money. I can barely afford to pay my rent to you and take care of both Kallie and myself."

Harry smiled. "If you want me to lower your rent for the next month, I will. Ginny, you are leaving for Hogwarts in a month. Calm down. Do not put yourself under so much stress. It is not good for you. Kallie needs you healthy."

Ginny smiled. "All right, I'll try."

"You'll do more than try," Harry said. "I've arranged it with Fred. You are starting at nine and coming home at five, no more of this seven to six or seven stuff. I want you healthy and strong."

Ginny kissed her daughter's forehead and nodded. "I'll try to take care of myself better, for Kallie's sake."

The next morning, business was slow and both the twins were in Hogsmeade, so Ginny was having a quiet morning. Suddenly, Michael Corner walked into the shop. "Hey, baby," he said haughtily. "You want me?"

She cringed. "Michael, go away. Just leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with you."

"I have one question for you, babe," he said, trying to sound suave. "Is Kallie my daughter?"

"No," Ginny said hesitantly. "No, she's not."

"I don't believe you," Michael said. He grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. His hands were everywhere on her body. He was groping her and reaching up under her shirt.

Tears were pouring down Ginny's cheeks. If only Fred or George were there, they could protect her. Oliver, her mind cried out. Oliver, I need you. Oliver, help! She was crying out in her mind desperately for Oliver to come and help her.

Oliver was sitting in his living room reading _The Daily Prophet_ when he heard a loud POP. He looked up. "Oh, hello, Professor McGonagall," he said calmly, as if people just popped into his living room every morning at noon precisely.

"Wood," she said with a smile on her face. "So, you're coming back to teach with us now?"

He nodded. "I guess I am. It is a lot better for me than playing Quidditch. So, why did Professor Vector leave?"

McGonagall shrugged. "I guess age. She did not really say. She just handed in her resignation to Albus at the end of last term." She handed him a package wrapped in brown paper. "These are your books. There is one book that Professor Vector took with her when she left; it is the seventh-year book. You'll need to pick it up from Flourish and Blots soon."

Oliver nodded. "Thank you, Professor. I'll do that."

"Well, I may see you at the Potters' when I take Ms. Weasley her books this evening. In fact, I will since Albus and I have also been invited to dine with them."

"Well, then I'll see you then."

"I'll see you there; good-bye, Wood," she said and then disappeared with a loud POP.

Oliver then left for Diagon Alley. He wanted to get that book as soon as he could.

Michael was trying to force himself on Ginny. "Oliver!" she screamed. "Oliver, help me!"

Michael bit her neck. "Shut up, whore. He is not coming to help you; face it. That is all I want out of you. I don't care about Kallie; she probably is Wood's daughter what with the way you're crying out for him now."

"Get away from me, Michael!" she screamed as he ripped her shirt off her body. "I'm not a whore!"

"Oh shut up!" he yelled, pushing her down to the floor.

Oliver walked out of Flourish and Blots with his book. He decided to stop in at 3W to see the twins and Ginny. However, as he walked by the shop he saw that it was empty. Then he heard a woman screaming. He knew instinctively that it was Ginny. He walked into the shop and saw a man's arm throwing a woman's skirt over the counter. Then he heard a man's voice scream,

Oliver grasped his wand firmly in his hand. He was filled with wrath. "She is not a whore!" he yelled.

Michael stood up. "Oh look, it's the father of the whore's brat."

Oliver grabbed Michael and threw him on the floor. Then he kicked him across the floor. "Leave now!" he bellowed. "Leave Ginny alone. She is not a whore. She is a good person. The only reason she had sex with you was because you got her drunk."

"Oh yeah? Why'd she have sex with you?"

"She was so torn apart by your actions that she came to the Potters' looking for Hermione. They were not home but I was babysitting Lily, James, and Sirius. They were all in bed. She told me what had happened and she told me that she felt like she was not worthy of being called a woman anymore. She asked me if people would ever consider her a woman after what you did to her. I took her into Harry and Hermione's bedroom and proved to her that I still consider her a woman."

Michael stared at Oliver. "You think she's a woman?"

"Yes, now leave."

Michael gave Oliver a strange look. "I have one last question. Is Kallie my daughter or yours? I don't really care but I want to know."

"She's my daughter," Oliver said firmly. "I don't care whether she is my daughter by blood or not, I love that girl. She is my baby girl."

"Okay," Michael said. "Then I'll leave Kallie and Ginny alone." Then he walked out the door.

Oliver picked Ginny's clothes up off the floor and went to Ginny. Trying to avert his eyes, he handed her the clothes. She dressed quickly and then fell sobbing into Oliver's arms. Oliver wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. He let her cling to him sobbing for a long time. He just rubbed her back and let her cry. Her arms were wrapped around his neck. He felt she was clinging to him for dear life. "Oliver," she said after a long time. "Oliver, do you really think of Kallie as your daughter or do you just say that to make Michael leave me alone?"

Oliver pulled back away from her. "Gin, look me in the eye. I want to tell you something. Your brothers are my friends; you are my friend. I care deeply about you. I want to grow closer to you." He kissed her forehead. "Gin, I don't know you well enough to say whether or not I love you but I do know this. Your daughter needs a father; we are both going to be at Hogwarts next year. If nothing else, I'll be Kallie's surrogate father and maybe more."

Ginny smiled. "You're amazing, really amazing. Oliver, what would I do without you?"

Then they kissed.


	4. Dinner At the Potters

I think we're alone now: Chapter 4

An- Thank you for all the awesome reviews, that you awesome opossum people send in like 20 minutes after I post it! I am trying to edit all these chapters making grammatical errors, changing the spelling of Kallie's name, and trying to write all these new ones. But I'll be gone July 11th- July 16th so I'll post a few chapters and then remind you but I'll need 10 reviews before you get a new chapter, after all that's only 2 a day. Come on a person that is not that difficult and it cannot be by the same people. Enjoy the chapter for new readers, and to refresh your memory for the old ones!

As they pulled apart after their kiss, Oliver looked at Ginny. "Are you all right?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. He kept slamming my head into the wall and hitting me. Moreover, he kept touching me and swearing at me. Every time I am near him, I do not feel like I am a person anymore. I feel like I am just his toy that he can shove around and do what he wants with. Every time he calls me a whore, it makes me wonder if I am one."

Oliver gripped her shoulders firmly in his hands. "Ginny, listen to me, you are not a whore. What he did to you last year is called rape and it is illegal. You are a woman no matter what he says to you or does to you; you are a woman. Ginny, Michael is a creep. There are other people out there like him but most people do not treat women like that. I do not treat women like that; if I did, my mum and my sisters would slaughter me. Ginny, you do not deserve something like Michael. In addition, that is what he is; he is a thing. He's a soulless creep."

Fred walked into the shop closely followed by George. They heard Oliver talking to Ginny. They immediately went behind the counter. "What happened?" George demanded. "Who did that to her?"

"Michael Corner came back," Ginny said. She was sitting leaning against the wall. "He tried to rape me again."

"Oh my god," George muttered. He joined his sister and Oliver on the floor. "Are you all right, Ginny?"

"Oliver stopped him before he actually did it," she said accenting the last word. "But he was touching me everywhere and groping me and oh, George it was terrible. His hands were everywhere and I was so scared. I did not know what to do. He is so much stronger than I am. I'm afraid of him."

Fred put his hand on his sister's shoulder next to Oliver's hand. "Ginny, I hate to say this, but I don't want you working here anymore. George and I can't always be here and I don't think Michael is going to leave you alone."

"But he told Oliver that if he knew that Kallie was Oliver's daughter, he'd leave us alone," Ginny sobbed.

"Oliver," George said. "Did you tell him you were Kallie's father?"

Oliver nodded. "I'm not sure he believes me though. I mean, my story of how I got Ginny pregnant seemed pretty credible, especially after talking to her just now, but I don't know if he bought it."

Fred and George nodded in unison. "Oliver, take her back to Hermione and Harry's. Stay there with her until we contact you. George, you go find Harry, Ron, and Charlie. I will find Bill, Lee, and Dean. If we have time, we need to get Neville, Remus, and Seamus."

Oliver and Ginny Apparated back to the Potters' flat. Hermione shrieked when they just popped up in her living room. Then she gasped as she saw Ginny. "What happened to her? Oliver, why are her face and chest covered in bruises? What happened to her?"

Oliver picked up Ginny and carried her to the couch. "She was alone in the shop and Michael came in. He tried to take advantage of the situation."

"Oliver walked by and saw what he was doing and stopped him," Ginny said weakly, clinging desperately to Oliver's hand. "And then Fred and George came in just after Michael left. They sent me home and told me not to come back to work. They said Michael is just too much trouble."

Hermione nodded. "They're right. I do not want you without an adult around at any time. If Harry is not home at night, I am going to make sure that either Ron or Oliver is here. If I need you to baby-sit, Oliver is going to help you. We're going to keep you safe at all costs."

"Including my social life?" Oliver teased.

"I thought she was your social life," Hermione teased back. "If you have Ginny, what would you need with a social life?"

Ginny just sat on the couch shaking during this exchange. Then she heard Kallie crying. She stood up. "I'm going to her."

Hermione nodded and let her go to her room she shared with her baby.

Ginny picked her daughter up and held her in her arms. The baby kept crying. "Are you hungry, princess?" she asked the baby girl. Ginny sat down in her rocking chair and began to nurse Kallie. "That's better, isn't it?" she whispered. The baby was sucking eagerly and hungrily.

In the living room, Hermione looked at Oliver. "It's almost five. If you want, you can just stay now."

He nodded. "All right. What's for dinner?"

Hermione smiled. "Always the hungry little boy, aren't you? We're having chicken and potatoes."

"And Professor McGonagall is coming?" Oliver asked.

"Professor Dumbledore is coming with her. You know how they are; during the summer they can't stand to be apart." She smiled. "My parents are also coming; they've been out of town for about four months and they just got back this morning; they invited themselves over for dinner as did Harry's aunt, uncle, and cousin."

"The Dursleys are coming?" Oliver said with a look of disgust pervading his face.

"I'm not pleased about it either, but yes they are. They said they want to visit us. Harry thinks they want something."

"I'm with him," Oliver said.

"So am I, to be perfectly honest," Hermione said. "I really don't want them to come but I couldn't think of an excuse that they wouldn't say 'oh that doesn't bother us' to. I told them there would be six wizards at dinner; that did not faze them. I told them the meal would be cooked by magic; they didn't care. I told them people would be doing magic and discussing the magical world during dinner and they didn't care."

"They either want something really badly or are really desperate for your cooking."

Hermione laughed. "I haven't cooked a meal without the aid of magic since I left Hogwarts. Harry and the children would starve if I could not cook with the aid of magic. But when we first got married, I had to get Mrs. Weasley to teach me how to cook with magic."

Oliver smiled. "I remember some of your first meals you cooked."

"They were terrible," Ginny, said coming into the room with Kallie in her arms. "Some days, I hear Harry would do something to destroy the food and get the two of you invited to dinner at Fred's."

"Well, Katie is a good cook," Hermione said defensively. "And I wasn't. So finally, after we had dinner with one of the twins and his family every day for a week and a half, Katie, Alicia, and Mrs. Weasley gave me a crash course in magical cooking."

"And Harry's been satisfied with her cooking ever since," Ginny finished.

Sirius toddled into the room just then. "Owie! Owie!"

Oliver ran over to his godson and picked him up just before he fell over. "Hey, Sirius. How's my little man?"

Sirius just smiled and hugged his godfather. Ginny smiled. Oliver was a natural with little kids. Sirius was frantically chattering away. Ginny looked at Oliver. "What's he saying?"

Oliver shook his head. "It's all gibberish at this stage. Every now and then I catch a word I recognize but most of it is all goo-goo-ga-ga."

Ginny smiled. "He looks so much like Harry. James looks like his father too, but he's more his grandfather."

"James Albus Potter is the spitting image of James Michael Potter," Oliver said. "It's actually disturbing."

"I think Harry likes it though," Ginny said. "It gives him a connection to his father. It's not enough that he has the same Patronus as his father or he looks exactly like his father except for his eyes; he has to go and have a son who looks exactly like his father and even has his father's eyes."

Oliver smiled. "You know, both these boys will probably be great Seekers. Harry could have made a great Seeker professionally. But instead he joined the Ministry as an Auror."

"He's happier as an Auror than he would have been playing professional Quidditch though," Ginny said.

"Yeah, professional Quidditch really doesn't leave you much time for a wife and a family," Oliver agreed. "That's part of why I'm retiring. I want to settle down and have a family." He looked at the smirk on Ginny's face. "What? Can't you see me as a husband and father? Haven't your brothers been talking about trying to get you to marry me?"

Ginny sighed and then laughed. "Yes, my brothers have been trying to hook us up. However, that is Fred and George for you. They want me to get married because they got married at nineteen and Harry got married at eighteen."

"Percy, Bill, and Charlie were in over twenty when they got married, so what are they worried about?"

"I don't know," she said "I'm only twenty-one; I still have. Bill and Charlie were in their late twenties when they got married. Percy was like twenty-three when he got married. I am not worried about it. I'll find a husband."

Oliver looked at her. "So you don't need Fred and George to fix you up with me?"

Ginny grabbed the nearest pillow on the couch and put it over her face. Oliver put Sirius down and went over to Ginny. He pulled the pillow off her face and saw that her face was red as her hair. "I was just teasing you," he said. "Forget I ever asked you."

Ginny relaxed. Oliver sat down next to her. "So when's McGonagall coming over?"

There was a loud CRACK and then Professor McGonagall appeared. There was another CRACK and Professor Dumbledore appeared. "Ginny!" Professor McGonagall gasped. "What happened to your face?"

"Michael," she muttered, suddenly clinging to Oliver. Oliver wrapped his arm around her, sensing that she needed to feel protected. He was suddenly filled with a sense of how small and how frail she was. He felt tears soaking his shirt and reasoned they were coming from her eyes. This was not going to be an easy day for her to recover from. Professor McGonagall sat down on the other side of Ginny and handed Oliver a handkerchief. Oliver wiped her face as carefully as he could, frequently hitting himself in the chest though. Ginny clung to him even more tightly. Oliver gently removed Kallie from her mother's arms and handed her to Professor Dumbledore.

Professor McGonagall looked at Ginny. "Ginny, I want to talk to you. Could you and Oliver come with me into your bedroom?"

Ginny nodded. She and Oliver stood up and went into her bedroom with Professor McGonagall. Ginny and Oliver sat down on her bed while McGonagall sat down in the rocker. "Ginny," the professor said gently. "Tell me about the night Michael raped you. I want you to go through the entire day or as much of it relates to that event."

Ginny nodded and clinging to Oliver for security began, "I went to work that morning like I always do. I was a little depressed because Colin and I had broken up the night before. Michael saw that I was upset and offered to take me out to a Muggle pub after work. He said it would cheer me up. I did not know what he really was at the time, so I agreed to go out with him. When we got to the pub, he ordered a round of a Muggle beer or whiskey; it was like Fire whiskey, you know very strong. After that first one, I was already a little tipsy but Michael kept ordering me more and I kept getting more and more smashed. I realized after about six beers that Michael had not been drinking anything at all but rather giving me his drinks. I told him I would have enough I wanted to go home. He took me to his flat and threw me on his bed. Then he ripped off my clothes and threw them on the floor somewhere. Then he took off his own clothes and jumped on top of me." Ginny began sobbing but went on. "Then he beat me for a long time and then he-he," she gripped Oliver's shoulder tighter and began sobbing forcefully and uncontrollably.

Oliver rubbed her back. "It's all right, sweetie. I have you. You are safe. He can't hurt you here."

"Ginny," McGonagall said. "If you don't want to go on, you don't have to. I can guess what happened after this."

Ginny shook her head. "I'll go on. I need to say this. Then he forced himself in me and raped me. I remember crying and crying because it hurt so much and I hated him so much. He kept swearing at me and telling me to shut up. He told me I deserved to be treated like that after getting drunk like that. Finally, he threw me on the floor and said I was boring him. I fell asleep there, I guess. However, I woke up before he did and got dressed. Then I Apparated to my parents' house. I found out I was pregnant about three or four weeks later and quit my job at the Ministry. And Fred and George gave me a job at 3W."

Oliver was filled with rage at Michael for treating Ginny like this. He had treated her as if she was less than human. He held her in his arms and let her cry for a long time. Finally, her tears ran dry and she just clung to him. Professor McGonagall looked at her. "Ginny, you know that Oliver's last serious relationship was with Katie Bell but do you know why they broke it off? And it wasn't really the reason that they told everyone."

Ginny shook her head. Oliver looked at her. "Gin, Katie is my cousin. Katie found out shortly before we broke up but she did not tell me. Our relationship was falling apart so I figured that was why we were splitting but shortly after I joined the Order of the Phoenix, I found out that Katie, Alicia, and Harry are all my cousins on my mum's side of the family. I also found out that Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are my mum's parents."

"We raised our children under false last names," Professor McGonagall explained. "The girls were raised under the last name McKinnon and James under the last name 'Potter'. Katie is my daughter Margaret's daughter, Alicia is Emma's daughter, Oliver is my daughter Julie's son, and Harry is my son James' son. So, technically, the Quidditch team that Oliver captained his fifth through seventh years is now all related. Katie, Alicia, Oliver, and Harry are cousins, Fred and George are twins, and Angelina is married to the twins' brother. And Gred and Forge are married to Katie and Alicia, making them related to Oliver and Harry."

Ginny smiled faintly. "So, you're both Lily and James's great-grandmother and their godmother."

She nodded. "Harry thought that it would be fitting seeing as I didn't get to help raise him, I could help raise his children."

Ginny nodded. "It's weird think of you being Harry's grandmother."

"Ginny," Oliver said. "What color is Grand mum's hair? What color is my hair? What color is Katie's hair? What color is Alicia's hair? What color is Harry's hair? We all have the same shade of black hair."

Ginny shrugged. "I guess I do see some resemblance. When did Harry and Alicia find out?

"Alicia found out after her seventh year and Harry found out in the middle of his sixth year," Professor McGonagall said.

Hermione stuck her head in the room. "Are you three done in here? I hate to pester you but the Dursleys are here and I need help with them."

"We're out there now," Ginny said. "Talking to Oliver and Professor helped. They really helped."

Hermione smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. Now come save me! Professor Dumbledore took Sirius and Kallie into the twins' room to play with them there. Now I have Petunia Dursley inspecting my kitchen as she is looking for some sign that I am not perfect. I need help!"

Oliver, Ginny, and Professor McGonagall hurried into the living room. Vernon and Dudley Dursley were sitting on the couch. Dudley had not lost any weight since Harry's Hogwarts years and took up most of the couch. Petunia was snooping around the kitchen as she was looking for something. Vernon looked at Oliver. "Who are you and what do you do? What kind of car do you drive?"

Oliver looked at him as he sat down in a large chair that held two people. Ginny sat down in his lap. Oliver spoke slowly. "I'm Oliver Wood; I'm an old friend of Harry and Hermione from their school days. I just retired from playing professional Quidditch and this fall I will start teaching Arithmancy at Hogwarts. And I don't own a car." Oliver knew perfectly well that Vernon Dursley barely understood anything he said.

Vernon looked at Ginny. "Who are you? What do you do? And what kind of car do you drive?"

She snuggled up against Oliver. "I'm Ginny Weasley. My older brother, Ron, is Harry's best friend. In the fall, I'll start teaching charms at Hogwarts and I don't own a car."

"You don't own a car?" Dudley said. "How can you not own a car?"

"I don't know," Oliver said, stroking Ginny's cheek. "I've just never need one. Grand mum, how have you lived without a car your entire life?"

Petunia Dursley looked at him. "She's your Grand mum?"

"And Harry's," Oliver said with a smile. "Petunia Dursley, I'd like you to meet Minerva McGonagall-Dumbledore, the mother of James Potter."

Before the Dursleys could say anything, Professor Dumbledore came in. "And I'm James Potter's father, Albus Dumbledore. That is my grandson, Oliver Wood." Harry Apparated into the room. "And that is my one of my other grandsons, Harry Potter."

Petunia looked at Harry. "These people are your grandparents?" she asked in a strangled sort of voice.

"Grandfather is the headmaster of Hogwarts and Grand mum is the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts," Harry said. "Do you have a problem with my relatives?"

Petunia gasped. "Whose child is that?" she was pointing to Callie who was in Albus's arms.

"Oh," Ginny said. "That's my daughter." She stood up, took her daughter from Professor Dumbledore, and sat back down in Oliver's lap.

"Oh, so you're Harry's cousin's wife?" Petunia asked.

"Yes she is," Harry said. "They got married last spring and they had Kallie at the end of March."

Oliver looked at Harry who shot him a look that said, "Just play along." Oliver nodded. "The past sixteen months have been the best sixteen months of my life," he said, kissing Ginny's cheek.

Ginny smiled. "Oh, Oliver, not in front of everyone! You know I love you but please, keep that for when we're alone."

Harry sighed. "They're such newlyweds."

Hermione nodded. "They're so cute." Someone knocked on the door. "That must be my mum and dad."

It was. Once Mr. and Mrs. Granger were inside, Hermione called everyone into the dining room for dinner. Harry left the room for a minute and came back with Lily, James, and Sirius. Dinner was a calm affair. The Dursleys mostly kept to themselves, not quite sure of how to behave in the presence of six wizards.

After dinner, however, Harry looked at his aunt and uncle. "All right, why are you here? I know you didn't come over just for the company so what do you want?"

Petunia looked at him. "Look, we've heard about what you did in your seventh year at that school of yours. In addition, we have found out that the person you killed was going to kill people like us probably us even. And we wanted to say that we're sorry for the way we treated you when you were younger."

"Really?" Harry said coldly. "You're sorry for making me lives in a closet for ten years? You are sorry for making me wear clothes that were over five times too big for me. You are sorry for lying to me about who my parents were. Are you really sorry or do you just want me to forgive you so you can feel better?'

Petunia Dursley just stared at him. Vernon said, "How dare you speak to us after all we did for you? We fed you, we clothed you, we took care of you; we were a better family to you than your own grandparents and cousins were."

Oliver shifted Ginny off his lap. He stood up and walked over to Vernon Dursley. "Never speak of my grandfather like that! Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of all time. He is also the greatest grandfather ever! The only reason he left Harry with you was that Voldemort was more likely to find Harry if he was in the Wizarding world. It was too dangerous for Harry to be with my family or my grandparents or my aunts' families. You are the ungrateful wretch, not Harry! You have no idea of what Voldemort would have done to you if he hadn't been killed, so just shut the heck up."

The Dursleys left after Oliver's little blow-up. Oliver looked at Harry. "Why did you tell them that Ginny and I are married?"

"Petunia would have had a field day with Ginny if she found out that Ginny was an unwed mother. It was easier to just say that you were Ginny's husband and Kallie's father than to explain everything," Harry explained calmly.

Oliver looked at Ginny. "It seems, my dear that the entire world has set out with one goal-to get you and I married. What do you say we do about it?"

"I say," Ginny said calmly. "I think we should just take this slowly and see where is takes us. If we end up married, everyone will be exceedingly happy."

Oliver smiled and kissed her cheek while Harry and Hermione exchanged mischievous looks.


	5. Why can't they understand

An- sorry for the lack of updates, my computer crashed causing me to lose everything so I'm going to try to get things back on track…

A month later, everyone was gathered at the Burrow for a farewell dinner before Oliver and Ginny left for Hogwarts. The pair had been dating for the past month and to quote Harry, "Kallie loves Oliver as much as she loves her own mother." It was true too. Kallie would cling to Oliver whenever he came over. "When Kallie starts talking," Fred said watching Oliver with his niece one day. "She's going to call Ollie daddy." Things were certainly headed in that direction.

The only problem was that Michael Corner had gone to all the wizarding tabloids and told them that the famous Oliver Wood, keeper for Puddlemore United, had fathered a child with Ginny Weasley. Now whenever Oliver went out in public, people hounded him asking him if the rumors were true. When he went out in public with Ginny, people followed them around taking their pictures. And people's favorite thing was when Oliver and Ginny went out in public with Kallie. People with cameras, especially reporters, followed them around. After one day of being followed all over Diagon Alley, Oliver said to Ginny, "I wish we could move to the States where no one knows about this."

"Hun," Ginny said. "I think they know about this over there too. I don't think there's any way we can get out of this."

Oliver sighed. "I just want to spend some time getting to know you without people following us around with cameras."

"Now I know how Harry felt his second year when Colin Creevey followed him around with a camera constantly," Ginny said, kissing her baby. "I just wish that there was a way to keep Kallie out of this. She doesn't deserve this."

Oliver kissed the baby's forehead and smiled to see her smile. "She's such a sweet baby. I love her so much and this is so unfair to her. Why did this whole mess have to get started? Couldn't Michael just leave us alone after I told him Kallie was my daughter? Why did he have to go to the papers with it?"

Ginny sighed. "Because he's a creep and he can't stand to just things go. He wants to hurt me for some sick reason."

"He's a soulless creep as I keep telling you," Oliver said. Then he kissed Ginny.

Fred and George spent most of the party demonstrating the products they were launching later in their Hogsmeade shop in October at the same time as the first Hogwarts Hogsmeade weekend. They had new fireworks that doubled as dungbombs but when used as dungbombs didn't have any firework effects or if used as fireworks had no dungbomb effects. "They're the perfect mischief makers," Fred said.

Oliver shook his head. "I wonder how many of those will go off in my classes. Those things really could become my worst nightmare."

Fred sighed. "Drat! I was hoping that the Weasley brothers were your worst nightmare."

"I thought you wanted me to marry your sister," Oliver countered.

"Oh, I do," said a smiling Fred. "But you're still supposed to be scared witless of us. After all, we are Ginny's fierce defenders. If her honor is defiled in any way or she is embarrassed or humiliated in any way, shape, or form, we will immediately come to her aid with wands at the ready."

"Yes, sir," Oliver said. "Fred, I respect your sister far too much to defile her honor in any way, shape, or form and I'd hate to humiliate her at all, for any reason."

Fred looked Oliver over from head to toe. "You look like an honest man. I think I'll trust you."

"You look like a crazy man to me," Oliver said, looking Fred over from head to toe. "I think I'll pretend I don't know you."

Fred stuck his tongue out at Oliver. "Maybe I'll put a sign on the Dung-Works that says 'Please use these most frequently in Professor Wood's classes.'"

"Maybe I'll use them in your shop," Oliver countered. "I'd use them in your house, but I love my cousin very much and I don't want to hurt her nose."

Katie smiled. "Thanks, Oliver. But I should remind you; my nose suffers enough when he works with all his dungbomb creations."

"You poor dear," Bill said. "Why did you marry this chap in the first place?"

"I don't know," Katie said. "I love him, but I'm not sure why. Fred, why do I love you?"

"Because underneath this terrible odor is a heart of gold," Fred said. "And besides I am the most amazing man you've ever met in your life."

Alicia said, "Well, it seems to me that it's your twin brother who is the most amazing man I've ever met in my life. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't married to George. I mean, sure, you're both crazy, but that's half your charm."

George said, "So you love me because I'm a crazy eccentric?"

Alicia kissed him. Then she said, "It took you five years of marriage to figure that out? George Stephen Weasley, you sure are slow on the uptake. But I still love you. Maybe I even love you more because of that."

Bill looked at Angelina suspiciously. "Why exactly do you love me?"

Angelina shrugged. "You play Quidditch, you're handsome, you're funny, you're a decent guy, and you're not part of Gred and Forge."

Bill smiled. "I guess that's a good reason."

Charlie looked at Maya. "Why do you love me?"

She smiled. "Well, it's not because you're tall, dark, and handsome. Probably it's because you can handle dragons. It's not every day that you meet a guy who can control dragons. I like that in a guy. You're not afraid of anything."

Charlie smiled and kissed his wife. "You're an amazing woman."

"Well, you're pretty amazing yourself," she replied.

Ron looked at Luna. "Are we on speaking terms?"

She smiled and shrugged. Then she kissed him. Fred said, "They're not on speaking terms but they are on kissing terms. How many people do you know who have relationships like that?"

His twin replied, "The only other people I know who are like that are Penny and Percy." He pointed to the couple that was making out sitting under a tree.

"Break it up, kids!" Charlie yelled. "We all know you two love each other, but there are small children around and they all seem to have eyes. They're very impressionable."

Percy and Penny didn't have any children yet, despite having been married for nearly six years. They had gotten married just before the start of Harry, Hermione, and Ron's sixth year. Meanwhile, Fred and George had both been married for five years and Fred had three children and George had two sets of twins. Bill and Angelina had been married for five years and they had three children. Charlie and Maya had been married for six years and they had four children. Mrs. Weasley was constantly reminding Percy that she wasn't getting any younger and while she had fifteen grandchildren, none of them were his children. She was after Ron to get married but with each passing week it looked less and less like Ron and Luna were going to get married. They were fighting more and more and Fred said, "The only real purpose for that relationship is for them to make-out and for Luna to get more camera time by being with the famous Ron Weasley who helped defeat Lord Voldemort."

Percy looked at his brothers. "I am allowed to kiss my wife when and where I please. Stop worrying about what your children see. It's not that big of a deal when two adults who love each other and are married are kissing each other."

Charlie sighed. "It is a problem for me when my five-year-old can see you two kissing. It may be perfectly natural but it opens up questions that I don't think my son is old enough to be asking. I don't mind it if you kiss Penny but please don't do it in public where I have to explain why Uncle Percy was sticking his hands down Aunt Penny's shirt."

Oliver moaned. "Charlie, please shut up. That was more information about Percy and Penny's relationship than I really ever wanted to know."

Ginny nodded. "I'm his sister and I didn't need that little tad of information. Charlie, the next time you see Percy doing something like that KEEP IT TO YOURSELF! I really do not need those mental images." She gripped her head and began shaking it. "Get that crap out of my head now!"

Oliver smiled. "Maybe Percy and Penny just go someplace else where their antics can't bother anyone."

"An excellent idea," Charlie agreed. (For those of you haven't picked up on this yet, Charlie now lives in England to be closer to his family and further from his in-laws.) "Percy, Penny, go home. Give Mum the grandchildren she wants."

Penny said, "But I don't want to have children. They're dirty and they take up your time. Besides, your mum already has fifteen grandchildren and I'm sure the rest of you wouldn't mind having more children. You're Weasleys; reproduction is your specialty. I mean George and Alicia have two sets of twins. You guys just sit around kicking out babies. Look at Ginny; she's not even married and she's already got a kid. You people just sit around having babies; you don't need Percy and me to have any kids to make this family any bigger."

Unwittingly, Penny had gone too far. All of her in-laws were looking daggers at her. Oliver was glaring at her with a look that, well, if looks could kill, Penny would have been dead the instant Oliver's eyes hit her. Even Percy was glaring at her. Penny was suddenly very frightened. "Look, I'm sorry."

"It's too late for sorry," said George glaring at her. "You insulted our family. No one insults the Weasleys and gets away with it."

Penny looked around at all the other faces in the backyard. Percy's eyes were filled with hurt and anger. Bill was looking daggers at her. Charlie looked like he'd like to sic a dragon on her. George and Fred were in murderous rages at her. Ron looked like he had been taken over by some evil spirit with all the anger in his eyes and face. His facial muscles were twitching like mad. Ginny, well, Ginny's face was a combination of everyone else's face but she was clinging to Oliver, as if to keep her from attacking Penny. Oliver had his arm wrapped defensively around his girlfriend's shoulders and well, his facial expressions have already been described. If looks could kill, Penny Clearwater-Weasley would be deader than dead. Harry and Hermione were giving off auras of pure and unadulterated wrath. Katie, Alicia, and Angelina were just disgusted with her. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley just looked so hurt.

For what seemed like an eternity, everyone just stood there staring at her. Then, Penny heard the clear voice of Bill Weasley. "Look, your husband already caused my mother enough pain when he abandoned the family seven years ago. We don't need you two to cause her any more pain. Just leave now before we do something to you that we will not regret."

Penny looked around again. Everyone seemed to be agreeing with Bill. She looked at Charlie desperately. He shook his head. "Leave, and take your husband with you. Just go away."

She turned to Oliver. They had been friends at Hogwarts. Surely he couldn't be siding with the Weasleys. "Oliver, we're friends. Come on. Back me up."

He spoke harshly and coldly, like ice. "Ginny and her daughter are not a joke." His words were precise and angry. "Just stop while you can. Just leave us alone. You and Percy have hurt this family enough."

"You're not a Weasley!"

"No, but I'm dating one and I have cousins who are married to Weasleys," Oliver said. "I'm not related to you in any way, shape, or form. Clearwater," he barked. "Blood is thicker than water. Now, leave the Weasleys alone."

Penny picked up her purse sadly and Apparated out of the Weasleys' yard. Percy looked at his family. "I'm going with her. I'm sorry about what she did but she's my wife and I need to go to her."

"More power to you," Harry said blankly. "Have fun with that choice."

Percy disapparated and immediately the tension released. Ginny moaned, "Why does everyone have to torture me about Kallie? Can't people just accept that she's my daughter and eventually I'll get married? When I get married, she'll have a father."

"Oliver," Fred teased. "Are you taking notes?"

Oliver laughed. "Well, if you'd get me some paper and a pencil, I would." He kissed Ginny's head.

Fred smiled. "I think he's won her heart." He pointed to Oliver who was holding Kallie on his left hip and had his right arm wrapped around Ginny.

George nodded. "She's off the deep end for him."

"He's a good guy," Fred replied.

"He can marry her."

"They've only been dating for a month," Charlie pointed out.

"Okay, so he can ask her to marry him in about a year and then get married the next summer," George said as if it was the most rational thing in the world to say.

His mother looked at him. "George, stop planning your sister's life out for her. She's old enough that she can plan her own life."

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother! I'm Fred," George insisted. "We're twenty-four and you still can't tell us apart. Woman, you are pathetic."

"All right, Fred," Mrs. Weasley said, still unsure as to whether this really was Fred or not. "I'm very sorry, Fred dear."

George grinned then. "I'm just teasing you. I really am George."

Mrs. Weasley moaned. "You two are going to be the death of me. All I have to say is George you got your just desserts when you got two pairs of identical twins."

"She's right, you know," Alicia said. They had twin three-year-old boys, Nicholas Andrew and Jonathon Daniel, and twin fifteen-month-old girls, Sophia Christine and London Janelle, Plus they are already taking after you They're only three years old and already they're in mischief half the day."

"It's my entire fault," George said. "They're my children, so it's my fault. Alicia, if you'd married another man, you'd have perfect children but you married me so you have imperfect children."

Alicia laughed. "Oh don't give me that melodramatic crap. It's not your fault. I'm just as responsible as you are."

"Yeah, to be married to George, one must be at least half as crazy as he is," Oliver teased. "And it's the same for marrying Fred; you have to be crazy to do it."

Katie and Alicia shot their cousin a glare, but then they both burst out laughing. "No, Oliver," Alicia said. "To be a Dumbledore, you have to be crazy. Harry, isn't that true?"

Harry looked at his wife. "Hermione, am I crazy?"

Hermione shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, you work as an Auror, you're married to me, and you have three children with me. Plus, you're really good friends with the Weasleys. Yeah, you're crazy. In fact, all the Dumbledore grandchildren are crazy. Oliver's loony, Alicia's goony, Katie's psycho, and Harry's insane."

"It sounds like they get crazier as they get younger," Fred said.

"Well, in your family it's the middle children who are the craziest!" Oliver teased. "Percy, Fred, and George are all wacko, but Bill, Charlie, Ron, and Ginny are pretty much normal."

Ginny smiled. "So are crazy people attracted to normal people?"

Oliver shrugged. "Look at Harry and Hermione; he's crazy and she's normal. It seems like it works like that."

Ginny kissed Oliver's cheek. "You're an amazing guy for someone who is crazy."

Oliver kissed Ginny's cheek. "You're an amazing woman for someone who is sane."


	6. A new year

I think we're alone now chapter 6

An- I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Summer was crazy so look for updates soon!

On August 20, the Weasleys all went over to the Potters' flat to say good-bye to Ginny, Kallie, and Oliver before they left for Hogwarts. Percy and Penny didn't come. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron hauled Oliver into the kitchen. "All right, listen to us. Treat Ginny well. Be good to her and make sure that she's fine. Take good care of her and no one gets hurt. It's very simple, Wood," Bill said.

Fred cracked his knuckles and Charlie punched his left hand with his right fist. George had a sneer on his face and Ron was giving Oliver the evil eye. "All right," Oliver said. "I get it. I'll be good to her. You don't have to worry about her. And cut the mafia act, guys. I'm not going to try anything with your sister."

"Good," George said. "If you do, we're going to come after you and well that isn't going to be fun for anyone."

Charlie raised his eyebrows. "And we wouldn't want to hurt your pretty little face."

Ginny walked in. "Okay, boys, cut the tough guy act. You all know Oliver and it's a well-known fact that he's very respectful of women. Besides, I'll be at Hogwarts. Do you think he'd try anything there under Albus Dumbledore's nose?"

"It's a very crooked nose," George said.

"He's probably taken at least two bludgers to that nose," Fred added. "It's really a shame. It was probably quite the good-looking nose when he was younger."

Ginny sighed. "All right, well, Oliver and I will be leaving now. I'll see you at Christmas holidays."

Fred began to blubber. "Don't leave us, Ginny. You can't go now!"

As his twin began to cling to her, George kissed both of Ginny's cheeks. "I'll miss you every night. I'll soak my pillow with my tears to the point of mildew."

Ginny patted her brothers on the head and sighed. "I'll write you both letters if you'll be good boys and let go of me."

Oliver said, "Oh and Dumbledore has taken four bludgers to the nose."

Instantly, the twins were off Ginny. She hugged her other brothers and her parents. Then holding her trunk with one arm and Kallie with the other, she stepped in to the fireplace and yelled, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

As soon as Ginny had vanished, Oliver took his trunk and stepped in to the fire and called out "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

A minute later, they both came out of the fireplace in Professor Dumbledore's office. He looked them over. "Well, if it isn't Professor Weasley and Professor Wood? Would you like me to ask Mr. Filch to help you take your things to rooms?"

Ginny stood up with Callie in her arms. "That would be great."

Oliver nodded. "I'd appreciate it."

"Oh, in an interesting turn of events," Professor Dumbledore said. "You two have classrooms right next to each other. True, Charms and Arithmancy have always been next to each other but with you two, this is in some ways a blessing. And Oliver, many of our female students believe everything that _Witch Weekly_ says. Ginny, you also would do well to remember that."

Mr. Filch walked in a minute later and took Ginny and Oliver down to their classrooms. The charms classroom now had a sign over the door that read, "Charms, Professor Ginevra Weasley." Ginny remembered when the sign had read, "Charms, Professor Filius Flitwick." The sign over the door to the Arithmancy classroom read, "Arithmancy, Professor Oliver Wood." Oliver smiled. "I remember when that said Professor Larissa Vector. I feel so weird replacing Professor Vector. I mean, my mum remembers having her as a teacher."

Ginny smiled. "Hey, my grandparents had Flitwick."

"Mine didn't," Oliver replied. "But I had Grandmum as a teacher."

Filch unlocked the doors of their classrooms. "Here you are, professors," he grumbled. "I remember when you two were students and look at ye now. You're professors, strange things this school is coming to. Oh, and yer keys are yer desks."

Ginny smiled at him. "Thank you, Mr. Filch."

"You're welcome, Professor," he mumbled.

Mr. Filch had only carried Ginny's trunk into her classroom. She went into her classroom and looked around. It seemed so empty without Flitwick standing at his podium going on in his squeaky voice, sounding so excited even about the dreariest of charms. It was so strange how such a small man could seem so large. His persona was captivating. Ginny hoped that her students would like her half as much as they'd liked Flitwick.

Oliver walked in. "It seems empty with out Flitwick."

"I was just thinking that," Ginny replied. "I remember spending hours in here, just mesmerized by him. You know, I think he was the only teacher here who never gave Harry a detention. Well, then, Trelawney and Hagrid probably didn't either but pretty much everyone else must have. And those who didn't give him one were filled up by all of Snape's detentions."

"It's hard to believe Snape's dead," Oliver said.

Ginny nodded. "I remember when he died Harry just looked at me and said," I thought he was immortal or something." It was just completely out of the blue. But thankfully, he didn't die at the hands of Voldemort." Snape had been found dead in the middle of nowhere about two months after Voldemort's death. No suspects had ever been named but most people believed it was the work of some Death Eaters.

Oliver looked at her trunk sitting on the floor. "Would you like me to put that in your office for you?"

She nodded and rubbed Kallie's back. Oliver looked at her and knew that the past month had been hard for her. Having Michael Corner tell everyone who would listen that Oliver Wood was the father of your child had to be difficult especially when Oliver Wood wasn't the father of your child. He knew that Ginny hadn't wanted to have kids before she got married so this whole situation had to be all the more difficult on her. How she handled raising Callie by herself, he would never understand. She was so strong.

She unlocked the door to the office and Oliver followed her inside. Inside the office there was another door, which Ginny also unlocked. These were her new quarters. Inside were a bedroom and a small sitting room with a couch and a rocking chair. The bedroom had a big, soft bed and a crib. Ginny smiled as Oliver said "Grandmum must have gotten it ready for you."

"How can you tell?" Ginny asked.

He pointed to the cradle. Inside was a red tartan blanket. "That was the blanket that she used when she was nursing her babies. I remember hearing my mum talk about it. You know James was the baby of the family. Mum is like six years older than him and she tells stories of Grandmum sitting in a rocking chair with James wrapped in a red tartan blanket and nursing. When Uncle James died, Mum was heartbroken."

"Had you ever met him?"

Oliver nodded. "He would come visit us whenever he could. He and Aunt Lily would bring Harry with them for Sunday brunch once a month. Harry was the cutest baby you ever saw in your life. The last time I saw him he was just learning to walk and talk. Sirius reminds me of him so much. You know how Sirius calls me Owie?"

Ginny nodded as she sat down on the bed.

"The Sunday before Uncle James and Aunt Lily died they came over for brunch. Just before they left, Harry said to me, 'Bye-bye, Owie.' I didn't see him again for ten years. And I never saw my aunt and uncle again."

Ginny looked at him sympathetically. "That's why you joined the order then?"

Oliver nodded. "I wanted Voldemort to pay for what he did to my family. It hurt so badly watching Mum after that happened."

"How old were you?"

"I was five. I didn't really understand but I understood enough to know that Uncle James was gone and he was never coming back. And I didn't see Harry for ten years because Grandfather thought he would be safer with his Muggle relatives. I still don't understand that one completely. I still think that in some ways Harry would have been safer with my family or Katie's family or Alicia's family."

Oliver sat down next to Ginny who, with her free hand, ran her fingers through his hair. "But Harry lived. I mean, being with the Dursleys was terrible for him but it made him a stronger person. Oliver, you have to get past all of that. It's in the past and you need to look to the future."

Oliver nodded. Then he was looking at Kallie. She had brown eyes. He'd always thought she had green eyes. Ginny had green eyes and Michael had blue eyes. It stood to reason that Callie would have either blue eyes or green eyes but not brown eyes. Oliver looked at the baby's eyes again. She gurgled and blew a raspberry at him and he laughed. Then he looked at Ginny. "Where did she get brown eyes from? You're a Weasley and you have the Weasley green eyes. Michael has blue eyes. Where did she get brown eyes from?"

Ginny's face was immediately as red as her hair and it seemed like there were tears in her eyes. Oliver felt awful for asking her and was about to apologize when Ginny said, "I don't know. I've never known why her eyes were brown. I guess it was just God's gift to me making her look nothing at all like Michael. But that's why Fred said she has your eyes. She really does look like she has your eyes. But they're not really your eyes. It's just the color of her yes. I don't know why they're brown; they just are."

Oliver nodded sensing that she really didn't want to talk about it. "Well, I should go get settled in my rooms."

Ginny hugged him. "I'll see you at the staff meeting at four."

He kissed her cheek. "Okay, I'll see you then."

Hogwarts opened on September 1. At five o'clock all the teachers except for Hagrid and Professor McGonagall had to report to the Great Hall. Hagrid, of course, had to meet the students in Hogsmeade and McGonagall had to meet the first years before they came into the Great Hall to be sorted in to Houses.

Madam Pomfrey was watching Kallie during dinner for which Ginny was grateful. As she put on her Hogwarts robes, she thought about the seven years she'd spent in this castle as a student. She'd been a Gryffindor, a prefect, a Quidditch player, and in her seventh year, Head Girl. Now she was a teacher. She was only four years older than some of the students. She just hoped that they would respect her. She was glad that her first class, eight o'clock on Mondays, was first years. And it was Gryffindor. They would be easier than Slytherins as her first class. Slytherin was significantly smaller than it had been before Voldemort's death.

Ginny put her long red hair up in a bun and headed for the Great Hall. She found her seat at the Head Table between Professor Sprout and Oliver. Oliver squeezed her hand. Then the students came into the Hall and began filling up the chairs at the tables. Finally, Professor McGonagall led the first years into the room. Ginny could see that many of them were shaking in their boots or shoes rather. She smiled. She remembered being absolutely terrified of the sorting her first year. But then she'd been thrilled to join her brothers in Gryffindor.

The first student was a small redheaded girl named Marissa Adams. Marissa was sorted into Ravenclaw. Ginny sat patiently through the sorting of over sixty students only seven of whom went into Slytherin. Twenty-one students went to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw each got sixteen new students. When the last student, Katie Zimmerhoff was sorted into Gryffindor, Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome, my dear students to another year at Hogwarts! All the school's rules can be found next to the door to Mr. Filch's office. I would like to welcome two new teachers to our staff. As many of you know, Professor Filch retired from our staff at the end of last year. Professor Ginevra Weasley has replaced him. Professor Vector also retired over the summer and Professor Oliver Wood has replaced her. I hope you will join me in welcoming these two new staff members back to Hogwarts."

The Great Hall burst out in cheers. Ginny reasoned that many of the students were fans of Oliver's and were glad to have him as a teacher.

The next morning, Ginny walked into her classroom to find it full of nervous first years. She walked to the podium and sat down behind it. She picked up the roll sheet and began to take roll. Everyone was speaking very quietly as if they were all scared of her. After she took roll they all just sat there staring at her. Finally one blonde haired girl raised her hand. Ginny nodded. "Yes, Miss?"

"I'm Maria Wood," the girl said. "Is Oliver Wood really your daughter's father?"

"Miss Wood," Ginny asked. "Are you Professor Wood's younger sister?" The girl was about fifteen years younger than Oliver but he had six younger sisters so it was possible.

The short, slender blonde nodded. "Yes, Professor Wood is my brother."

"Then I'd like to speak to you after class about believing everything you read in the tabloids. As I'm sure your brother can tell you, they like to make things up about famous people. And Oliver is famous."

"So are you," blurted out a short, pudgy boy with sandy blonde hair. "You were one of Harry Potter's best friends when he was at Hogwarts and you helped defeat Lord Voldemort."

"So did Professor Wood, five of my six brothers, my parents, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, Remus Lupin and many other unsung heroes."

"But there's an entire chapter on you in the Defense against the Dark Arts book," cried out a tall, slender black girl sitting near Maria Wood. "It's over sixty pages long. The only people who have more pages are Harry Potter, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Wood, and the Gryffindor Chasers."

"Miss Thomas," Ginny said instantly recognizing the girl as Jessie Thomas, Dean Thomas's younger sister. "That chapter is about my entire family, not just me."

"Don't be so modest," Maria Wood said. "There's a fair twelve pages on you."

"And getting back to Charms," Ginny said. "Open your books to page twelve."

After class, Ginny went into the Great Hall for lunch. She sat down next to Oliver. "You never told me your younger sister would be in my class."

"You'll have four of them," he said. "Maria is eleven, Beatrice is twelve, Juliet is fourteen, and Helena is sixteen. They're all in Gryffindor. I only have Helena; Juliet's never been much of a math person."

"What about you're other sisters?" Ginny asked, taking bite of the chicken on her plate.

"Ophelia is eighteen; she graduated last year and she works at Madame Malkin's now. And don't ask why my sister is named Ophelia. Viola will be coming here in two years. She's only nine. My mum is obsessed with the Muggle playwright, Shakespeare. When I was born, she wanted me to be a girl so she could name me Olivia. But when I was a boy, she settled for Oliver."

Ginny smiled. "How was Kallie this morning?" Oliver didn't have a class on Monday mornings, so he'd offered to baby-sit Kallie.

"She was a perfect angel. She woke up about two hours ago and after I gave her breakfast, she just wanted to play."

"How many classes do you have all week?"

"Five, one Monday afternoon, one Tuesday morning, one Wednesday morning, one Thursday afternoon and one Friday morning. Only one class per year, it's great. I can watch Kallie when I'm free, if you like."

"That'd be great. The only times I'm free are Tuesday afternoons from one to five and Friday mornings from eight to noon. I have sixteen classes. Everyone is double-Charms except the first years."

"Well, look at the bright side, on Friday mornings, you don't have to get up until noon," Oliver pointed out.

"Yes but every other morning of the week I have to be up with the birds."

"And two mornings a week you don't have to worry about Kallie because I'll take care of her those days."

Ginny smiled. "You're the best. Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey said they'll watch her whenever you can't."

"People love your daughter, Ginny. That little girl is simply irresistible."

Ginny squeezed his hand. "So are you."

Over the next month or so, Ginny's popularity among the students grew. She was, to quote Maria Wood, "The nicest teacher in the school. She never gives out detentions." And she didn't unless it was absolutely necessary. She made her classes fun. If it had been a boring class, she'd put a Cheering Charm on the class at the end of the class. She was a big hit with all the students, especially the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They loved her for three reasons. First off, she didn't give them homework the week before a match. Secondly, she had played Quidditch at Hogwarts as her siblings. And she was the sister of Charlie Weasley, the second greatest Seeker in Hogwarts history. The greatest, according to Chaser and team captain, Mariana Morris, was Harry Potter. Mariana was a seventh-year who was constantly spending her lunchtime either talking to Ginny or Oliver about their Quidditch playing days. She wanted Oliver's advice on her practicing regimen until one day Professor McGonagall overheard her begging him, "Professor Wood, just tell me how you got your teams to be so amazing! How did you get your team in to perfect condition to win the Cup?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Mariana. "Miss Morris, I do not think you really want your team on Professor Wood's practicing regimen. It was rather brutal. The next time you're in Hogsmeade, go to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and ask either Fred or George about Professor Wood's absolutely absurd way of practicing and you won't want your team on his regimen. Trust me, I saw its effects on my students."

Mariana looked at Professor McGonagall. "I'm going to ask the Weasleys because I don't believe you."

After Mariana walked away, Oliver looked at Professor McGonagall. "Grandmum, what was so insane and absurd about how I ran my practices?'

"It wasn't how you ran them, my dear," she said in a grandmotherly fashion. "It was when you held them. Do you think Harry, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie weren't suffering from getting up at five in the morning? And like it or not, the twins were obviously suffering. They didn't pull a single prank in my room the week before the championship. That was the only week in seven years I didn't have to deal with one of their pranks. While ordinarily I would have thanked you, I knew that they were sleeping in my class because you were getting them up to early."

Oliver looked at his grandmother. "Why do you always have to be right?"

"Because I'm your grandmother," she replied. "And if I were you, I'd write a letter to the papers admitting that you're Callie's father and telling them to leave you alone."

"Okay, I'll do that."

"And the twins are right," she said. "Date Ginny for a year, ask her to marry you next summer, and marry her the following summer. Trust me; it'll work out for you two. She loves you too much to ever let go of you. Claiming to be Kallie's father has been a lifesaver for her."

Oliver was astounded at how intelligent his grandmother was.


	7. Sorry, Charlie No kisses here!

I think we're alone now

Chapter 7

An- I'm sorry about the delay! I got a boyfriend and that took up so much of my free time, they are so demanding. And then I made the Master if Ceremonies for my Talent Show and that took my twice the time Neil did. So I'll have a few chapters out today, tell me what you think, any ideas are greatly accepted. You can e-mail me with any personal comments or suggestions at this address: babybluesweetipi at yahoo dot com!

Oliver walked into Ginny's office before dinner that night. "I'm going to release a statement to the papers saying that I am Kallie's father so they'll leave your family alone. And so that they'll leave you, Kallie, and me alone."

Ginny sat down on her desk and looked at him. "Are you sure you want to do this? What will your family say?"

"I've already sent a letter to Mum and Dad and I'll talk to my sisters after dinner," Oliver said. "Look, Gin, I have no choice. The story was in _The Daily Prophet_ today. The story is getting out of hand and we need to control it."

Ginny sighed. "Oliver, I'm very grateful to you. It's just I don't want you to do something you don't want to do. This is going to change the way people think of you. People are going to think of you as wonderful Oliver Wood the exceptional Quidditch Keeper. Now you're going to be Oliver Wood the fink who got a girl pregnant and then didn't go anywhere near her for a year. You can come up with all the plausible explanations for avoiding me for a year you want but there are still a lot of people who are going to hate you for this."

Oliver put his hands on Ginny's shoulders. "I know that. But I don't care. What I care about is you and Kallie being safe. I'm not so worried about my reputation. If you and Kallie love and if my family loves me, I'm a happy guy. I know Kallie loves me"

"Kallie will love you no matter what," Ginny said.

"And what about you? Will you love me no matter what?"

Ginny kissed his cheek. "Of course I will, you insatiable ego."

Oliver hugged her and held her close. "Then I have nothing to fear."

"What about your family?"

Oliver grinned. "Well, my mum will blow up at me and lecture me about the evils of lying but in the end she'll tell me she's proud of me for doing the right thing. My dad won't care. My sisters, well, Maria loves you, so you're safe there. Beatrice, Juliet, and Helena seem to like you, so you're safe with them. Viola is too young to understand and Ophelia will ask me what's wrong with my head. In the end, everyone will still love me though. And my family will love you."

Ginny smiled. "I hope you're right."

"Gin, my family has to love you. You're the woman I'm in love with. Besides, my grandparents love you, so the rest of the family has to follow suit."

Ginny kissed him. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Well, if I ever forget, I have you to remind me."

After dinner that evening, Maria, Beatrice, Juliet, and Helena Wood walked into their brother's office. Helena flopped into the chair opposite her brother. "Okay, Ollie, what's so desperately important that I had to break my date with Ryan Holiday to come see you?'

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I thought you were dating Byron Hunt."

She waved her hand. "That was last week. Byron is old news. I needed a new man."

Oliver sighed as Maria said, "I don't mind being here."

"Yes, but Maria, you practically worship Oliver," Beatrice said drolly. "You actually want to play Quidditch."

"Girls, keep it down. I have something I need to tell you," Oliver said glaring intently at his sisters.

"Let me guess," Helena said. "You're going to tell people that you're Kallie's dad. Ollie, you're my brother and I know you very well. You're head over heels for Professor Weasley and you'll do anything to protect her."

"Yeah, Ollie, its plan as can be," Beatrice said. "Why don't you just come out and announce your engagement?"

Oliver sighed. Beatrice was constantly hoping he would get married so she could be a bridesmaid. Juliet said, "They'll announce their engagement when they're ready."

Helena added, "You need to behave yourself, Bea, you don't want to scare Professor Weasley off like you scared Katie off."

Oliver laughed. Only Ophelia knew that Katie was their cousin. After Lily and James died, Julie Wood had stopped telling her children about her sisters. As far as her younger five daughters knew, the Bells and Spinnets were just close family friends. While Juliet may not have been as good at Arithmancy as he and Helena were, she was his favorite sister because she wasn't ditzy and boy-obsessed. Maria was pretty cool too but she was so much younger. But he'd taught her to ride a broomstick and play Quidditch.

Beatrice moaned. "I didn't scare Katie off. Ollie did that by himself. I mean, who would want to date Ollie?"

"I can think of plenty of girls who would want to date Oliver," Juliet retorted.

"And stop calling me 'Ollie,'" Oliver begged his sisters. "I hate being called that name. I know Sirius Potter calls me that but he's only sixteen months old. You girls are old enough that you can say Oliver and I would really appreciate it if you would call me by the name Mum and Dad gave me when I was born. So, call me Oliver or I'll get you."

Beatrice and Helena both moaned in unison. They had called Oliver "Ollie" for years. They didn't know what they would do to tease their older brother if they couldn't call him Ollie. Oliver was over a foot taller than all of his younger sisters. They were short, and slender. Well, Fred Weasley had once described Beatrice and Helena as short, skinny little wimps with dishwater blonde hair. It was, to be totally honest, an apt description. They were both about five feet tall, if that, and many people thought they were anorexic. And their hair really was the color of dirty dishwater. Maria and Juliet were prettier though. They were both healthily petite with golden blonde hair. Oliver often wondered how he had dark brown hair and brown eyes while his sisters had blonde hair and blue eyes.

Two days later, the letter Oliver had sent to the press was all over the front page of every wizarding newspaper in England. _The Daily Prophet_ had the headline "Former Puddlemore Keeper Admits to Fathering Ginevra Weasley's Child."

Oliver Wood has spent the past eight years playing professional Quidditch for Puddlemore United. At the end of last season, he retired and began teaching Arithmancy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Virginia Weasley gave birth to a baby girl, Kayleigh Estelle Weasley, on March 31 of this year. The child's father was unknown and many in the wizarding community wondered who he was. Many fingers were pointed at Miss Weasley's ex-boyfriend Colin Creevey. However, recently, an unidentified source began telling various press organs that it was Oliver Wood who was the girl's father. Giving credence to that argument was the fact that Wood and Weasley were frequently seen in public in the past few months.

Yesterday, Wood confirmed the rumors with a letter he sent to all the press organs in England.

To whom it may concern:

For many months now, many people have been speculating as to who is Kayleigh Weasley's father. In more recent months, rumors have placed that title on my shoulders. They were correct in doing so although I do not know how they learned of this.

I was unaware that Ms. Weasley was pregnant and had I known, I would have returned to her as soon as I found out. As it is, I am trying to make up for lost time with Ms. Weasley and our child. As Ms. Weasley and I are currently trying to work out our relationship, we would very much appreciate it if the press would leave us alone.

Sincerely,

Oliver T. Wood

The rest of the day, Oliver and Ginny heard whispers about them. Ginny noticed students in all her classes who were passing notes and whispering when they thought she wasn't looking. She sighed but didn't say anything because she figured it would die down in a few days. Also, she had put a charm on the room so that all non-class related notes would suddenly be translated into Old Church Slavonic, which she knew for a fact none of her students could read. This significantly decreased the note passing after a few minutes.

Oliver discovered that most of his female students were looking at him completely differently now. He understood why, too. Instead of being a single teacher who was probably dating Professor Weasley, he was a teacher who was definitely dating Professor Weasley and was the father of her child. Many of them didn't spend class staring at him but rather actually paying attention to the course. It was a first but not exactly a first he minded. He would prefer that his students paid attention to what he was teaching instead of his body.

That evening, Oliver walked into his girlfriend's office with Kallie on his hip. "Milady, I have come to return our daughter to her rightful mother."

Ginny reached out her arms for her daughter and kissed Kallie's forehead. "Were you good for Oliver? Hmm, was my little Kallie angel good for the wonderful Oliver?"

"She was a perfect angel," Oliver assured her. "She was a sweetheart. She took a nap for about two hours and then she just wanted to practice sitting up, in my lap of course."

"Of course," Ginny said with a smile. "Kallie wouldn't want to sit up in a crib or on the floor when she could sit up in Oliver's lap. She's a smart little girl."

Oliver kissed Ginny's cheek. "She's an amazing girl. She's so much easier to deal with than my students. Most days, my female students just want to sit and stare at my body instead of taking notes. Well, today they weren't interested in my body, which I appreciated."

"What's wrong with your body?" Ginny asked. "I think it's a very nice body. You and I need to go swimming more often."

Oliver shook his head. "Woman, I want to be known for my brains not for my body!"

"You have a beautiful brain," she teased. "You just also have a beautiful body."

Oliver smiled. "You know, it would be so much easier to kiss you right now if you weren't holding Kallie."

"Sorry, Charlie," she said. "You know the rules. Kallie comes first; you come second. I love you but I love her more."

Oliver smiled. "I know. It's just hard sometimes."

"You'll have to live with it. My daughter is my first priority."

"I could just kill Michael Corner some days," Oliver muttered under his breath.

Ginny stroked his shoulder soothingly with her free hand. "It's all right, Oliver. I'm fine. Kallie and I are very happy especially now that you're in our lives. Kallie says she thinks you are her daddy."

Oliver kissed Kallie's little button of a nose. "Well, I think of her as my daughter despite the fact that I've never been with her mother like that."

"And if you ever are, it'll be because you're married to her mother," Ginny replied. "I don't need any more little surprises. I love this one but I'd prefer that I had the rest of my children after I was married."

Oliver took a step back. He nodded slowly. "All right, I respect that and I understand where you're coming from."

"Thank you," she said softly. "Thanks for always understanding this stuff. I know it has to be hard for you and most guys wouldn't put up with this but it's just the way I need things to be right now. Callie's only six months old and I need to look out for her above all else. But Oliver, I do love you. You are the second most important person in my life."

Oliver nodded. "I love you too, Ginny. But I do understand why things need to be this way. I love you enough to accept this because I love your daughter too. I know we need to take things slowly and I'm going to work with that."

Then he found a way to kiss her on the lips even with Kallie in her arms.


	8. Helena! you're pregant!

Everything was going smoothly for Oliver and Ginny. Their relationship was slowly progressing. Oliver found himself falling in love with both Ginny and Kallie. Ginny was falling love with Oliver and her daughter adored him. Oliver's sisters were warming up to Ginny and spending more time with her than just in classes.

Then late one Friday night in December, about a week before Christmas holidays, Helena Wood walked into Ginny's office where Ginny was sitting grading papers. Oliver was in Ginny's bedroom playing with Callie. "Professor Weasley," Helena said.

Ginny looked up. "Yes, Miss Wood?"

"Can I talk to you about something, something well, uh, personal?"

"Certainly, sit down."

Helena sat down in the chair opposite Ginny. "You know how Oliver says I go through a boyfriend a week?"

Ginny nodded and Helena went on. "So, about two or three months ago, I slept with Ed Jacobs. And then I haven't gotten my period since then. So I did that charm to see if you're pregnant and I am."

Ginny sighed. "How long have you known?"

"About a month," Helena said shyly. "I need help telling Oliver; I'm afraid to tell him."

Oliver had heard everything from Ginny's room and walked into the office carrying Kallie. "Helena, why are you afraid to tell me this?"

Helena looked at her brother standing in the doorway and gasped. "You heard everything?"

"Every single word," he replied. "Helena, why do you feel you can't talk to me about this? Do you think I'm going to kill you?"

"You'll tell Mum and Dad and they'll kill me," Helena moaned as tears poured down her cheeks. "They'll disown me and then I'll have to go live on the streets. They'll hate me for this. They'll lecture me on what an idiot I am."

Oliver sat down next to his sister. "You are an idiot, Helena. You date every guy you can get your hands on. Eventually, this was bound to happen. I hate to sound so critical, but in a way, you brought this upon yourself. I'm going to help you out with this, but I'm going to help you by helping you tell McGonagall and our parents." He glared at his sister. "Helena, you're going to have to deal with the consequences of your actions."

Helena moaned. "But I don't want to have a baby. I'm only sixteen. I'm too young to deal with being a mother. I don't want this stupid baby. I want to get rid of it."

"No," Oliver said firmly. "You're going to have that baby. You can give the child up for adoption after the birth but you are not killing your child. I will not allow it."

"But I'll get kicked out of Hogwarts," Helena whined. "And no one will want to date me. And I'll be fat and ugly."

Ginny snorted. "You lose the weight and you're not dating for about six months. It's not that terrible."

Helena moaned again. "I don't want a baby. It's too much work. Can't I just get rid of the kid now?"

Oliver glared at his sister. "Stand up," he barked. "We're going to McGonagall's office now and you're going to tell her everything." He handed Kallie to Ginny. "I'll see you in the morning, darling."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "See you then."

Oliver half dragged his sister to his grandmother's office. Of course, Helena didn't know that Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Dumbledore were her grandparents but oh well. He knocked on the door and heard a very tired "Who is it?"

"It's me, Oliver," he replied. "I have a slight situation."

"Come in," the tired voice replied.

Oliver opened the door and went into the office. Minerva McGonagall was sitting at her desk marking papers. She smiled but that smile immediately disappeared when she saw his sister behind him. "Miss Wood," she said curtly.

"Helena, sit down," Oliver barked at his silent sister. She obeyed his orders. "Professor, Helena needs to talk to you about something."

Helena had a deer caught in the headlights expression on her face. She stared at her teacher and head of house for a while, and then blurted out, "I'm pregnant."

Minerva McGonagall stared at her granddaughter who didn't know they were related. "When did this happen?" she said firmly.

Helena stared at her fingers and mumbled, "About three months ago."

"Who is the father?" the older woman said firmly.

"Ed Jacobs," she whimpered. "And I don't want to keep the baby."

"You're carrying the baby to term," Oliver stated. "You can give the baby up for adoption or something but I will not let you kill an innocent child. You are going to learn that your actions have consequences."

Minerva looked at her grandson and then her granddaughter. Then she nodded. "Helena, I am going to agree with your brother. You will keep this child. After the birth, I will arrange for a wizarding family to take your child, but you will not kill your baby."

"But Mum and Dad will kill me," Helena moaned. "And I'll be fat and ugly."

"Helena," Professor McGonagall said slowly. "I need to tell you something. It's something that you can never discuss with any of your classmates or even anyone in this castle. The only people here who know about this are the teachers. I'm married and I have four children. I have three daughters and a son; however my son died about twenty-one years ago. My son was named James and my daughters are named Margaret, Emma, and Julie."

"Is your husband dead?" Helena asked.

"No, Professor Dumbledore is my husband."

Helena gasped. "You're married to Professor Dumbledore. But I've never heard of any other Dumbledore's."

"That's because we raised our daughters under the named McKinnon and our son under the last name Potter."

"My mum's maiden name is McKinnon."

Oliver sighed. "Helena, Mum is Professor McGonagall's oldest daughter. Harry Potter, Katie Bell-Weasley, and Alicia Spinnet-Weasley are our cousins."

"You're my grandmother?" Helena gasped. "And Professor Dumbledore is my grandfather. This is so weird. I can't believe Mum and Dad never told us about this. Why wouldn't they tell us this? I always thought that Mum had a huge spat with her parents and that was why we never see them. Why aren't we allowed to know that you're our Grandmum?"

"Think about it, Helena," Oliver said. "If people knew that you were related to your teacher and the headmaster, they would be naturally suspicious. People would think that you hadn't earned your grades but rather you got the grades you got because of familial favoritism. I have to be careful not to treat you with favoritism because you're my sister. And we were never told because Mum was afraid we couldn't keep our mouths shut."

Helena looked at her brother. "So I have to keep this baby and then my family will arrange for an adoption?"

Oliver nodded. "Helena, I don't want you to do anything you'll regret for the rest of your life and you would regret killing your baby. I've killed people before and while I don't regret it, I do wish that there had been another way to protect Harry and Bill besides killing Bellatrix Lestrange and Goyle."

"I still have nightmares because of some of the things I saw in the battles," Professor McGonagall said. "You would be making a decision you would regret for the rest of your life."

Helena looked at her brother again and then at her grandmother. "All right, I'll keep the baby as long as Oliver takes care of it after it's born."

Oliver nodded. "That's fine with me."

"Oliver," his grandmother said. "Could you go get Edmund Jacobs from his room?"

Oliver walked into the Gryffindor common room and looked around. He saw Ed Jacobs sitting in a corner with a blonde girl. "Mr. Jacobs," Oliver said firmly. "Professor McGonagall needs to see you immediately."

Ed was a seventh year. "Why this late at night, Professor Wood?"

"You'll see when you get there. This is very urgent. Tell Miss Wallis you'll see her later."

Ed kissed Ellie Wallis. "I'll be back soon, baby."

Oliver grabbed Ed's arm. "Come along now. This is very urgent."

Ed followed Oliver down the hall. "Why does Professor McGonagall need to see me? Did I do something? I don't get this. Professor Wood, do you even know why she needs to see me?"

Oliver was walking a few steps ahead of the boy. "I know why she needs to see you but I think she needs to tell you. This much I will tell you. There are always consequences for your actions and sometimes it will seem like the cost is more than you can bear."

Ed gave Oliver a confused look but he refused to say anymore. He opened the door to Professor McGonagall's office. Ed gasped when he saw Helena sitting in a chair talking to the older woman. "What's she doing here?" he said pointing to his ex-girlfriend. "I thought I told you I didn't want to see you ever again."

"Sit down, Jacobs," McGonagall barked. "Miss Wood has something she needs to tell you."

Ed sat down and looked at Professor McGonagall. "How about she tells you and you tell me?"

"Ed, this isn't that kind of a thing," Helena said. "I'm pregnant and it's your baby because you're the only guy I've slept with."

Ed just stared at her. Then he said, "Yeah, right. Like I'm supposed to believe that; you just want to get back together and you're trying to trick me into it."

"I'm serious," Helena said. "I've known for two months now, but I've been afraid to tell anyone."

"Oh, so that's why you gave up dating," Ed said. "I thought it was just a weird move to get me back. Little did I know how far you'd go to get me back?"

"I don't want you back," Helena said. "I just want you to know that you're going to be a father. I'm going to give the baby up for adoption after she's born. I didn't even want to tell you this. It was all Professor McGonagall's idea. She thinks you need to know. I don't care whether or not you know. I just want you and your child out of my life."

Ed stared at her. No girl had ever told him she wanted him out of her life. In fact, he'd always ended his relationships; no girl had ever ended the relationship. He thought he was a stud and everyone wanted a piece of him. "You don't want me? What's wrong with you, Helena? I'm the most desirable guy at Hogwarts."

Oliver snorted. Ed looked at him. Oliver shrugged. "What? I just think you're a pompous jackass."

Ed rolled his eyes. "You just think that because you're a man. If you were a woman, you'd be all over me."

Professor McGonagall glared at him. "Mr. Jacobs, you will excuse yourself to your room now. I have had enough of you for one evening. I merely wanted you informed that Miss Wood is carrying your child. Now you will leave us. Professor Wood, please escort Mr. Jacobs and Miss Wood to their common room."

Ed and Helena wouldn't even look at each other the entire way to the common room. Oliver sighed and just let them be. He was ready to kill both of them but he knew that wouldn't solve any problems. Why was Helena like this? Why did she date anything that moved? Ophelia had liked boys but she hadn't been this bad. She wasn't even dating anyone at the moment. Oliver had dated Katie steadily for two years and then not dated again until he started dating Ginny five months earlier. Why did Helena feel this need to have boys staring at her constantly?

At the portrait hole, Ed said, "Just for the record, I don't want anything to do with this kid."

"Well, I'm just going to give birth to it," Helena said. "Then someone else is going to deal with it."

"So you're not going to bug me for money or anything?"

"Not on your life. I don't want anything from you. It's bad enough having to carry your child. Just go f yourself."

Oliver rolled his eyes as the two walked into the portrait hole. Then he went down to Ginny's office. Ginny wasn't at her desk anymore so he went into her rooms. She was sitting in her bed reading. Kallie was in her cradle, sleeping. Oliver sat down on the bed and looked at the cover of Ginny's book. It was a parenting book. Ginny looked up at him. She was wearing glasses. Oliver leaned his head on her shoulder. "Now I understand why you don't want to have sex with me until after we get married."

"What makes you think we're really going to get married?" Ginny teased.

"I don't. I'm just hoping we will," he said with a smile.

"So what happened with Helena?"

"Ed Jacobs is a jerk."

"You didn't know this before? Oh, before I forget, McGonagall owled your parents about this. They'll be here tomorrow."

"Does this mean I have to go to my own room? I can't just crash here."

Ginny patted his head. "As much as I love you, I want you to sleep in your own bed tonight."

Oliver kissed her. "Then I guess I will high myself to bed now."

Ginny kissed him. "Before you do that, I have a question. What made you understand about my premarital sex deal?"

"My sister," Oliver said. "Her life is a mess right now because she had sex when she was only sixteen. I mean, I don't want to destroy our relationship; I love you too much to jeopardize what we have together."

Ginny kissed him. "You're so good to me. I love you."

Oliver gasped. This was the first time she'd said that to him. "I love you, too," he whispered.

They sat there kissing for a while then Oliver said, "Well, if my parents are coming tomorrow, I should go back to my room now."

Ginny nodded and disentangled herself from his arms. Then he climbed off the bed. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, love," she replied. She knew the next day would be hard for him. He would have to deal with his parents' reactions to Helena's pregnancy. She knew his parents were not going to respond well to this. His grandmother had just about blown a gasket when she heard the news; his parents would be no better.

Oliver was both excited and worried. Ginny loved him; she was in love with him. But then Helena was pregnant. His mum was going to kill Helena and his dad would kill Ed. Oh gosh, tomorrow was going to be interesting. He just couldn't wait!


	9. Lunch and banging fists

I think we're alone now

Chapter nine

…

Okay, by the way, I'm doing a quick thing of the Dumbledore family because several people have said this family confuses them.

Minerva Sophia McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore are married. They have four children. Their daughters had the maiden name "McKinnon" which was Minerva's mother's maiden name. Their son had the last name "Potter" which was Albus's mother's maiden name.

Juliana Sophie McKinnon or Juli is their oldest. She is married to Robert William Wood. They have seven children: Oliver Thomas, Ophelia Grace, Helena Sophia, Juliet Miranda, Beatrice Anne, Maria Elizabeth, and Viola Jayne.

Margaret Caroline McKinnon or Maggie is the second oldest. She is married to Christopher Adam Bell. They have three children: Michael Brian, Adam Jacob, and Katherine Theresa.

Emma Rose McKinnon is the second youngest. She is married to Harrison John Spinnet. They have four children: John Brian, Alicia Clare, Aaron Michael, and Lily Marie.

James Potter was the youngest. He was married to Lily Evans. They had one son, Harry James Potter, who survived them. And now on the with the story…

The next morning, Oliver woke up and moaned. His parents would be arriving soon. They were taking the Floo Network to his office. His mother had told his grandmother that she wanted to talk to Oliver before she talked to Helena. Oliver was dreading this. He knew his mother would be angry with Helena. She had understood his claims to be Kallie's father but he knew that he would not understand this. Oliver had been protecting a friend; Helena was doing something Julie Wood considered to be a moral outrage.

When Julie and Robert Wood arrived in their son's office at ten o'clock, they were both in terrible moods. Julie Wood stepped out of her son's fireplace and dusted her robes off saying, "Honestly, Oliver, some days you're my only hope. You're my only child who hasn't managed to get themselves into a load of trouble recently."

"Julie, you forget Maria and Viola haven't caused you any trouble recently," his husband said climbing out of the fireplace.

"Yes, dear, you're right," she said sweetly. "But they're so young that one doesn't expect them to cause trouble. Besides, I've even had a letter from Hogwarts about Maria. Oliver is my only good child. Oliver, just marry Ginny in the next year or two and you'll win that title for life."

"Speaking of which," Robert Wood said. "When do we get to meet Miss Weasley and her daughter?"

"Whenever you want to," Oliver replied. "Ginny and Kallie are free all day so they can meet you at any time."

"Well," his mother said. "I want to speak to Mother and Helena first. I would like to know why my daughter has been sexually involved with a boy when she is only sixteen. One would think she would be responsible enough to know not to fool around with such things at her age."

Oliver looked at his mother. "Maybe she'll listen to you because she certainly hasn't been listening to Grandmum or me lately."

"Oliver, does your sister know that her grandmother is also her teacher?" his mother asked.

"Grandmum told her last night," Oliver said, suddenly interested in looking for something under his desk.

"Why doesn't my mother trust me to tell my children this in my own good time?" Julie Wood yelled. "She told you, she told Ophelia, and now she tells Helena. I had a plan to tell you this but she told you before I got a chance."

"Mum, I was twenty when Grandmum told me," Oliver said pointedly. "When exactly did you intend to tell me that Harry Potter is my cousin? When did you intend to tell me that I had dated my own cousin for two years? That whole relationship looks disgusting in past tense."

"He's right, Julie, and you know it," Robert Wood said. "Maggie and Chris had you parents tell Michael, Adam, and Katie on their fifteenth birthdays. Emma and Harrison told John, Alicia, Aaron, and Lily on their eighteenth birthdays. Your parents told Harry on his sixteenth birthday. And we've yet to tell our children. You wanted to wait until they were married. Oliver is twenty-six and Ophelia is eighteen. Oliver found out when he was recruited for the Order of the Phoenix and Ophelia found out because your mum felt she deserved to know the truth. Helena knows because of her current situation. When will you tell Juliet, Beatrice, Maria, and Viola? You can't wait forever to tell them. They have a right to know who your parents are. I think we should do what Emma and Harrison do and tell the younger girls on their eighteenth birthday."

Julie looked at her husband and her son. He was right and she knew it. Oliver was right and she knew it. She nodded. "All right, we'll try that method with our remaining children. Oliver, I'm sorry we didn't tell you ourselves."

Oliver hugged his mother. "It's all right, Mum. You had your reasons."

Julie patted her son's back. "I'd love to spend more time with you but right now we need to go deal with Helena."

Oliver nodded as his parents left his office.

A few minutes later, he was in Ginny's office eating breakfast with her. She was trying to feed Kallie some sort of fruit baby food but more of the food ended up on Ginny's hands and face than in Kallie's mouth. Kallie also kept grabbing her mother's hair and pulling it. When her mother grimaced or screamed, the baby would smile. Ginny sighed. "Kallie," she said. "Why are you so much trouble?"

"Gin, she's related to Fred and George," Oliver said. "What do you expect her to do?"

"I wish she was more calm and demure."

"Who in your family is calm and demure?"

"My mother?" Ginny said questioningly.

Oliver gave her a look that said, "Umm, yeah, sure." Then he said, "You can think that if you like. I won't get in your way."

Ginny shook her head. "I know I love you but sometimes I don't know why."

"You love me because I'm handsome, intelligent, good with your daughter and incredibly cocky."

"And you admit that you're cocky," Ginny said. "I'm always glad when a man can admit that he's cocky."

Oliver smiled. Then Kallie's baby food covered fist hit his face. He had orange squash goop on his face. Kallie flashed a toothless smile at her mother's boyfriend. Oliver shook his head and then kissed the little girl's cheek. She grinned as he shook his head. Oliver then picked her up and said, "I'll clean her up."

Ginny smiled as he took out his wand and quickly cleaned the girl up. Then he cleaned himself and then Ginny. Ginny smiled as he handed Kallie to her. Her daughter was clinging to her neck. Oliver smiled. "Oh, my mother and father want to meet you two. I was thinking we could have lunch with them."

Ginny nodded. "All right, do you want to take them to the Three Broomsticks?"

He smiled. "That would be good. I'll admit it won't be very quiet. But it's either that or the Great Hall."

"The Three Broomsticks," Ginny said quickly.

Ginny and Oliver walked into the Three Broomsticks at five minutes before noon. Ginny was carrying Kallie in her arms. Madame Rosmerta hurried over to them. "A table for three?"

Oliver shook his head. "For five, my parents will be joining us."

Madame Rosmerta smiled and led them to a booth. "I'll be back with a high chair for this little angel in a minute," she said as she tickled Kallie's arm.

As the woman walked away, Oliver's parents walked in. They walked over to the booth quickly. Julie Wood hugged her son and then turned to Ginny. "You must be Ginny Weasley and this precious little angel must be Kallie."

Ginny nodded. "Yes, it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Wood."

Julie Wood smiled as her husband introduced himself to their son's girlfriend. Ginny Weasley seemed like a nice girl. Her daughter was a sweet little girl. Madame Rosmerta brought a high chair for Kallie just as Julie and Robert were sitting down across from Oliver and Ginny. Ginny settled Kallie in the high chair and they began to look at the menu.

Julie looked at Ginny. "What do you recommend? I haven't been here since I left Hogwarts thirty years ago."

Ginny glanced over the menu. "The chicken sandwich is always excellent."

"Or if you're more adventurous there's the newt sandwich, which tastes just like chicken."

His father laughed and his mother shot him a look. "Ginny, do you recommend anything else?" Julie asked.

"Well," Ginny said looking over the menu. "The frog sandwich is excellent. I usually come here more for their butterbeer than anything else."

Julie nodded. "I think I'll take your advice on that chicken sandwich."

A minute later, the waitress came over. "Can I get you folks anything to drink?"

Oliver said, "Butterbeer" at the exact same moment as Ginny.

His mother said, "I'll have a large gillywater."

"Two butterbeers, a large gillywater; anything for you sir?" the waitress asked Mr. Wood who was still studying his menu.

"Ah, yes, I'll have a butterbeer as well," he said.

"All right, three butterbeers and a large gillywater. I'll get those for you and be back a minute to take your orders."

Mrs. Wood looked at Ginny. "So, Oliver tells me Kallie is eight months old. Is she learning to crawl yet?"

Ginny smiled. "She is. She goes everywhere she can."

"She's so cute the way she crawls all over the place. She loves being able to go where she wants to," Oliver said, his voice filled with fatherly pride. "When she learned to sit up a few months ago, she was so proud of herself. She would just sit there and smile at you like she wanted you to congratulate her."

As if she knew someone was talking about her, Kallie started banging her fists on the tray of her high chair. Ginny looked at her. "Shh," she said, putting her finger to her lips.

Kallie mimicked her mother's motion with a toothless grin and kept banging on the tray. Ginny shook her head, and then said, "Kallie, please stop." She didn't want to hurt her daughter but wasn't sure what else to do other than grab the little girl's wrists. Then Robert took the baby out of her chair. He settled her in his lap and whispered softly to her. Instantly the baby settled down and stopped waving her fists. She was more interested in the watch that Robert Wood wore on a chain that was clipped to a belt loop on his pants. She fumbled as she tried to pick it up with her little baby fingers. Ginny smiled. Oliver looked at his father. "I remember that watch. I used to sit on your lap and play with that."

"And I used to sit on my father's knee and play with it," his father said. "It's been in the Wood family for generations. And when you get married, I'll give it to you."

Oliver smiled. Then his mother said, "So, Oliver, Ginny, what do you know about Ed Jacobs?"

"That he's a fink," Ginny said without thinking. Then, realizing what she had said, "He is always flirting with every girl he sees. He dates every girl in sight and flirts with other girls when he's on a date. He's terrible."

Oliver nodded. "He sits in class and flirts with girls. He's a rat. I don't know why Helena got messed up with him in the first place."

"Because she thought he was good looking," Ginny said. "He has this way of getting girls to date him."

"You hear students talking about it all the time," Oliver added.

His parents were amazed at how much the two could tell them. But Julie Wood was smiling at the way the pair was finishing each other's sentences and completing each other's thoughts. Ginny gave her a look. "What are you smiling at?"

"You," she said. "You two are acting like an old married couple."

Ginny shook her head. "You're not the first person to say that."

"Grandmum says it," Oliver agreed. "And several other teachers have said that as well."

"Well, they're right," his mother said to him. "You two finish each other's sentences. And the way you look at each other, well, you look like you're in love."

"Well," Ginny said, blushing. "We are in love."

Oliver nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I love her very much."

"Oliver, I hate to say this, but your mother and I don't want you to come home for the holidays," his father said after their orders had been taken. "We need to talk to your sisters."

Oliver nodded as Ginny said; "He could spend holidays with my family. They'd love to have him. And there's so many people in my family no one would notice an extra person. Another mouth at the dinner table would hardly be noticed. And they all love Oliver so much they would be happy for any excuse to see him."

"And I'll be able to spend Christmas with my favorite godson," Oliver added. "After all, the Potters always spend Christmas with the Weasleys."

Ginny smiled. "And you'll be there for Kallie's first Christmas."

Oliver smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Robert looked at the baby in his lap. "Julie and I will be sure to send this little angel something for her mother to stick under the Christmas tree for her."

"What does she need, Ginny?" Julie asked.

Ginny gasped. "You're the first person to ask me what she needs. Most people just tell me they'll get her clothes or toys."

"Well, you know Grandfather will get her some socks," Oliver said.

Ginny laughed. "Your grandfather seems to really love socks for some reason. And my parents and my sisters-in-law will get her things that they know she needs, but most other people will just get her ridiculous things like clothes that are the wrong size or just something she'd never wear."

"I know how you feel," Julie said. "When Oliver was born, people gave me the most ridiculous nonsense for him. Half of it, he never used. I never understood why people gave me some of the things they gave me for him. It was perfectly stupid."

Ginny smiled. "When Kallie was born, I had more than twenty baby blankets."

Everyone else at the table smiled. Then Oliver said, "So, Mum, Dad, what are you going to do with Helena?"

"We're going to take her out of school for the rest of the term," his mother said. "She'll go back in the fall, maybe. I'm not sure what I want to do with that girl."


	10. Cheating and Parents

Oliver looked at Ginny. She was sitting at a desk with her head in her hands. He was standing in the doorway with Kallie on his hip. He'd been standing there for over ten minutes but she had yet to notice him. She was staring at a pile of papers on her desk but at the same time, it was as if she couldn't see them. He cleared his throat. She jumped and looked at him. "Oliver!" she said. "Kallie! How long have you two been standing there?"

Oliver smiled as he walked into the room. "Just a few minutes," he lied. He sat down opposite her and settled Kallie in his lap. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

She held up the two papers she'd been staring at. "This, it's the most recent second year charms test. This test," she said waving the test in her left hand. "This is your sister's test. And the other test is Janna Madden's test. They're best friends and they sit right next to each other. And they have the exact same answers. There were thirty questions on the test and they each only got twenty correct."

Oliver took the two papers from Ginny and looked at them. She was right; it did look as though Beatrice had cheated off Janna. Janna was much smarter than Beatrice and everyone knew it. "Oh gosh," he muttered. "Mum and Dad are going to kill Beatrice when they find out about this. It's not bad enough that Helena is pregnant but now Beatrice is cheating on exams. Ginny, you're not the only teacher to talk to me about this. Grandmum talked to me about it earlier today. Other teachers have talked to me about it recently. I have no clue what I'm going to do about this."

"I'm going to send an owl to your parents and I'm meeting with Janna and Beatrice after the holidays to talk to them about this. They're leaving tomorrow so I have no choice but to wait until January."

"When are you sending the owl to my parents?" Oliver asked.

"That's what I'm debating," Ginny said. "In some ways, I don't want to do that until after I talk to Beatrice and Janna and I'm sure of what's going one but in other ways I'd like your parents to talk to them first. I'm not sure what I should do."

Oliver looked at the baby in his lap. "Kallie, what do you think your mum should do? Should she tell my parents about my sister cheating now or after Christmas holidays?"

Callie smiled and gurgled. Oliver looked in the baby's mouth. "When did she start cutting that tooth?"

"Just in the past week," Ginny said. "She hasn't been sleeping much lately because her gums are hurting so much. But back to the Beatrice situation, what should you do?"

"Well, Grandmum is talking to her now," Oliver said thinking aloud. "If you want to, you could talk to her tomorrow morning before she leaves and then send an owl to my parents. And don't worry about ruining Beatrice's holiday; it's going to be quite miserable as it is."

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"While I spend the holiday with your lovely family, Viola, Maria, Beatrice, and Juliet will spend it with my dad's parents. Ophelia will be with her boyfriend," Oliver's eyes were filled with something akin to anger. "I don't like my little sisters dating."

"Oliver, you have to let them grow up some time. You can't let them be five years old forever. But then I'm the one with brothers who will defend my honor with violence. The only woman I know with brothers who are worse than mine is Maya. Maya's brothers were ready to kill Charlie when he was dating Maya."

Oliver sighed. "You women all stick together. Now, I want you to talk to Bea before she leaves. She needs to get her act together and if she thinks she's going to get away with something like this, she's got something else coming to her. That girl needs to get her act in order."

Ginny could hear the anger in his voice. "Oliver, she's twelve years old. Go easy on her. You can't expect her to be an adult overnight."

"She's cheating in her classes. She's not doing her own work and you want me to go easy on her. I'll be back." With that, Oliver handed Kallie to Ginny and walked out of the room.

Oliver walked into his grandmother's office to find her grading a stack of papers. "Where's Beatrice?" he asked.

"She left about five minutes ago," she said. "Of course she has a month of detention after the holidays. What's bothering you, Oliver?" Minerva McGonagall-Dumbledore took off her glasses and looked at her grandson. He seemed upset. "Oliver, sit down and talk to me."

Oliver sat down opposite his grandmother and told her everything. He told her how Beatrice was cheating in five of her classes. He told her how this whole situation with Helena was driving him crazy. He told her how he was in love with Ginny and it was just taking up his entire being. All he wanted to do was strangle his sisters and be with Ginny. He was amazed at how patiently his grandmother listened to him. She just sat there and listened.

When Oliver was done talking, his grandmother looked at him. "Oliver," she said slowly. "What I'm about to say, I don't wait to say. But it needs to be said. Beatrice is going to be expelled. If she is cheating in five classes, then she must be expelled. She admitted to me when she was in here earlier that she is indeed cheating and therefore she must leave. She's packing now and I'll take her to see your grandfather shortly. I wish I didn't have to do this but I'm going to do it anyway. Oliver, just go to your room and go to bed. I'll deal with this with your parents soon."

Oliver nodded and went over to his grandmother. She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Oliver, everything will work out," she whispered. "True love always finds a way."

The next morning, Beatrice walked into her brother's office. Oliver was packing his trunk for Christmas with the Weasleys. "Oliver," she said choking back tears. "Oliver, Mum and Dad are going to kill me. I've been expelled from Hogwarts. Helena didn't even get expelled for getting pregnant. I'm the first person in Wood family history to get expelled from Hogwarts."

And the only person in Hogwarts history to be expelled by her own grandparents, Oliver thought to himself. To his sister he said, "I'm very sorry about this, Bea."

His sister looked at him and said, "I know what you're thinking. You're sorry but you think I got what I had coming to me. And you know what Mum is going to say to me. She'll say, 'Beatrice, this is your entire fault. If you had done your own work and not cheated off of Janna, this wouldn't have happened to you. Oliver and Ophelia never did anything like this.' Then she'll go off on a long rant directed at Helena and me about how we've both done something that is very wrong and neither Oliver nor Ophelia would ever do anything like this. Oliver, why did you have to be perfect? Couldn't you have done something wrong while you were in school?"

"I did do something wrong," Oliver said. "Once I got into a fight with Professor McGonagall because she took Harry's broomstick away from him to make sure that it wasn't trying to kill him and I wanted to know when he could have it back."

"That's the worst thing you ever did?" Beatrice said. "You really were Mr. Good Boy. All you did was playing Quidditch and do schoolwork. You dated Katie Bell for two years and were never unfaithful to you. Oliver, you two have gone down in Gryffindor history as The Most Perfect Couple Ever. You were faithful to each other, you almost never argued, and you always made up within seven hours of a fight. Why on earth did you two break up?"

"Did it ever occur to you that being perfect isn't always fun?" Oliver said. "We were perfect but we weren't happy. Being the perfect couple wasn't what it was made out to be. We stopped loving each other as boyfriend and girlfriend and started loving each other as brother and sister. To this day, all that Katherine Theresa Bell-Weasley is to me is a sister. She's a sister I love very much but I love her as a sister. And it's Ginny that I love now."

Beatrice looked at her older brother. "I never knew that was why you broke up with Katie. I always assumed it was something dumb like your relationship couldn't survive if she had two more years of school and you were going off to play professional Quidditch. I thought that was so weird because everyone knows that you two could have fought your way through anything. You two seemed to love each other so much that I used to think you were going to marry her."

"Katie and I realized that we had more of platonic relationship," Oliver said. "And I'm not going to tell you the whole story because you're twelve years old and that's really too young. You're too young to understand this."

"That's what everyone says. Beatrice, you're too young too understand this. I hate this!" Beatrice started yelling. "I'm too young to understand the consequences of what's happening to Helena. That's what McGonagall says, that's what Mum and Dad say, that's what you say, and I even went and asked your stupid girlfriend to explain it to me and she bloody said I was too young! Why am I too young? Why does everyone say that?"

"Probably because it's true," Oliver stated flatly. "You are too young to understand what all of this means for the rest of Helena's life. You think you're mature but you're not done growing up. You're only twelve and you have plenty of life in front of you."

"I hate you!" Beatrice yelled, throwing a book at her brother. "Oliver Thomas Wood, I hate you and I never want to see you again in my entire life!"

The book Beatrice had hurled at Oliver hit him in the face, breaking his nose. Ginny walked in just as Beatrice walked out. She ran to his side as soon as she saw him clutching his face. "Oh, Oliver, are you all right?"

Sarcastically, he replied, "Oh, yes, Ginny, I'm absolutely wonderful. I've never felt better in my life. I've always wanted my twelve-year-old sister to break my nose."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "What I meant was would you like me to help you to the hospital wing? I really think you should have Madame Pomfrey look at that nose of yours. It's really ugly."

When they arrived in Madame Pomfrey's hospital wing a few minutes later, she looked at Oliver and said, "Great Caesar's ghost, Oliver, what on earth happened to your face? You never once did anything to that face of yours playing Quidditch so how on earth could you injure it as a teacher?"

"By sister threw a book at bee," Oliver said.

"Why on earth did your sister throw a book at you? And which sister was it?" Madam Pomfrey said, taking out her wand. "And please take your hands away from your face. This will just take a moment."

Oliver took his hands away from his face and let the nurse fix his nose magically. Then he said, "Beatrice broke my nose because apparently she hates me."

Ginny stroked his nose with her index finger. "You poor thing. Your twelve-year-old sister hates you. Your life is in utter shambles."

"Oh cut it out, Ginevra Kathryn," Oliver said. "Stop teasing me. I have to finish packing if we're going to be at your mother's in time for dinner."

Ginny and Oliver walked out of the hospital wing and headed back to his office. "Where's Kallie?" Oliver asked suddenly realizing that Ginny didn't have her daughter with her.

"Oh, she's with your grandmother," Ginny replied quickly. "I asked her to watch her while I packed."

"Kallie is watching Grandmum?" Oliver joked. "Poor Kallie, it sounds like an impossible job. I know I wouldn't volunteer for it."

"Okay, Oliver, that's beautiful. You wouldn't baby-sit your grandmother. I'm glad to hear that. She's a little old to need babysitting. Are you done packing?"

Oliver smiled at the sudden babble pouring out of Ginny's mouth. "Yes, I finished just before Bea's visit. Why do you ask?"

"Because I may have forgotten to tell you a few things about some of my brother's wives in the past few months," Ginny said bashfully. "And I need to catch you up on the latest news."

"Okay, what's up in the wonderful world of the Weasleys?" Oliver asked as they walked into his office. His grandmother was sitting on the desk holding Kallie.

Professor McGonagall handed Kallie to Ginny saying; "I couldn't find you in your office so we came in here."

"Beatrice broke my nose and we went to see Madam Pomfrey," Oliver explained quickly. "But my nose is all better now."

"That's good," Minerva said. "I wanted to wish you both a very Happy Christmas. You'll find your presents from Albus and me under the tree on Christmas morning."

Ginny gave Minerva a one-armed hug. "Thanks so much for watching Kallie for me."

"It's my pleasure. She's a wonderful little girl, not half the trouble that boy was," Minerva was pointing to Oliver. "He was a holy terror. I used to watch him when his mother was a teacher here, but after Lily and James died there was no more of that. The family just fell apart for fear of what would happen to the rest of us."

Olive looked at his grandmother. "I never knew that before."

"Well, it was only for about five years and you were never really old enough to remember it but some times, the summer before Lily and James died, I would baby-sit you, Harry, the Bells, and the Spinnets at my summer house to give your parents some free time."

After Professor McGonagall left, Ginny looked at Oliver. "What did your mum teach when she taught here?"

Oliver smiled ironically. "She taught Arithmancy. She was the teacher before Professor Vector. She was the reason I was so good at it when I was a student here; she taught it to me before I even started at Hogwarts. She stopped teaching when Aunt Lily died. She said she wanted to spend more time with me. Then, three years later she started having the girls. So I'm not sure if she wanted to spend more time with me or if she wanted more kids."

Ginny smiled. "Well, being one of seven kids I can understand that theory. But I'm the baby and you're the oldest. You have six younger sisters and I have six older brothers. We're each other's exact opposite in that department."

Oliver smiled. "You're right. Well, we should get going if we're going to be at your mum's house in time for dinner. Oh, what did you need to tell me about your family news?"

"Oh¸ that," Ginny said. "Katie is six months pregnant and Alicia is four months pregnant."

"But they both just had babies in April!" Oliver said. "Maggie's eight months old and that means Katie got pregnant when Maggie was two months old. That's so weird."

"Well, to quote Bill, Fred moves fast."

Fifteen minutes later, Oliver, Ginny, Kallie, and their luggage appeared in the Weasleys' kitchen fireplace. They stepped into the kitchen and heard Katie Weasley say, "Well, it's about time you two got here. We've been wondering if you were going to come at all. Dinner's ready and everyone's waiting for you."

"It's nice to see you too, Katie," Oliver said.


	11. A Weasley dinner

Ginny brushed the soot off her robes and set her trunk against a wall. Oliver did the same and then they went into the dining room. Ron looked up and said, "Oh good, you're here. I'm starving. I've been waiting for you three to get here for forever. Now we can eat."

"It's good to see you too, Ron," Ginny said slapping her brother. "I'm glad to know you missed me and that you value me more than food."

Ron shrugged. "It's not that; it's just I can't eat you when I'm hungry."

"Tell Kallie that," Ginny joked. "She seems to be of the opinion that she can eat my fingers."

"How is my favorite sister's daughter?" Ron asked looking up at his niece for the first time. "Kallie, do you want to see Uncle Ron?" he asked in completely different voice. Kallie stretched out her pudgy little arms to him and he took her in his arms.

Ginny sat down in the empty chair next to Ron. "So, where's Parvati? I thought Mum said you were going to bring her with you tonight."

"We split," Ron said. "She was getting weird. I thought that this would be the relationship that would last but it just fell apart. Ginny, don't you know anyone you could set me up with?"

"I'll think about it and get back to you before New Year's," Ginny replied. "I'll definitely try to get you a date for New Year's."

Oliver sat down between Ginny and Alicia. Alicia smiled at him. "So, how is teaching going? Is it better than professional Quidditch?"

Oliver smiled and immediately Alicia knew he was happier now than he'd ever been playing Quidditch. "It's amazing. I always thought that Quidditch was the greatest thing on earth but I've discovered that there's something even better than Quidditch."

"It's a pity he couldn't have discovered this when we were at Hogwarts," Alicia whispered to George. Then she turned back to Oliver. "So, Arithmancy is that amazing?"

He shook his head with a smile. "Arithmancy and teaching are wonderful but its Ginny who has made the past five months so wonderful for me. My sisters have caused so much trouble and Ginny's been the one sane person in the middle of all of that. My parents are ready to kill Beatrice and Helena but Ginny is just calm and normal and loving."

"What happened with Beatrice and Helena?" George asked.

"You haven't heard?" Ginny said, shocked.

George shook his head. Then Oliver said, "Beatrice was expelled from Hogwarts last night for cheating in five of her classes. And Helena announced a few weeks ago that she's pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's baby."

Alicia shook her head. "Your poor parents, and poor you, seriously, are you really sure you want to be teaching at the school that your sisters attend?"

Oliver shook his head. "It'll calm down after the holidays. Beatrice won't be back and Helena, well, I can deal with her. I know her so well and I'm used to dealing with her. Also, it's not really her that I'll have to deal with but rather her ex. He's a jerk."

"Who was she dating?" Alicia said. "Anyone I know?"

Oliver shook his head. "She dated half the Gryffindor common room. The father is Ed Jacobs."

"Oh I remember his older sister," Alicia said. "She was a constant flirt. She was the only person I ever met who would flirt with George while I was sitting on his lap making out with him."

George looked at his wife. "She was flirting with me? I thought she had something wrong with her back."

Alicia laughed and kissed her husband's cheek. "I'm glad that you find me more attractive than her."

"Despite what the title of the muggle movie says, this gentleman prefers brunettes," George said.

"And this gentleman prefers redheads," Oliver said, kissing Ginny's cheek. "Redheads have so much spunk after all. Blondes are lovely people but I personally prefer this redhead."

Ginny smiled and kissed him. "I'm glad to hear that. I personally prefer men with brown hair. And this man I have here is wonderfully good-looking."

Oliver smiled. "Thank you, darling."

A few minutes later, Mrs. Weasley looked at her daughter and said, "So, how is Kallie? You wrote me almost three months ago that she's crawling. Has she started to stand up yet? Is she teething yet? Is she walking yet?"

Ginny smiled at her mother's eager questions. "She's teething. I have to keep at least five teething rings around the rooms to keep her happy. She cries through the night otherwise. But she's getting better at sleeping through the night."

"That's good," Mrs. Weasley said. "But what about my other questions?"

"Oh," Ginny said with a smile of motherly pride. "She stood up for the first time three days ago. It was so cute. Oliver and I were sitting in my little living room talking and she was crawling around. Then she grabbed a firm hold on the couch leg and pulled herself up. It was so adorable."

Oliver nodded the affirmative. "It was wonderful. She pulled herself up and then looked around with a look that said aren't you both just so proud of me? Then she had a look like aren't I just the cutest baby ever born? It was so sweet."

"I think that I detect a hint of fatherly pride in Oliver's voice," Fred said with a smile. "I think that Oliver is just slightly enchanted with our delightful niece, Kayleigh Estelle." Fred liked to call Kallie by her full name when he was joking around. "Personally, I believe that Miss Ginevra Kathryn and Mr. Oliver Thomas ought to marry. George, do you not agree with me on this subject?"

George stroked his chin thoughtfully and then said with a mischievous glint to his eye, "I agree with you most definitely. I think that Oliver Thomas ought to ask our delightful sister to marry him on the most wonderful and romantic night of New Year's Eve."

"That sounds absolutely marvelous to me," Fred said. "Oliver, what is your opinion on this absolutely delightful subject?"

Oliver looked at Ginny. She raised her eyebrows and smiled. Oliver turned to the twins and said, "I must speak with your delightful sister about this concept. I'm not quite certain that she is quite ready for marriage yet. Ginny, what do you think of your brothers' idea?"

Ginny sat thoughtfully for a few moments. Then she said, "I think that marriage is a decision we need to make on our own without the help of my esteemed brothers, Frederick and George."

Fred sighed. "Well, I hope you make it soon. I'm not getting any younger and I would like to live to see the day when I have nieces and nephews with the last name of Wood."

George nodded. "Just yesterday I thought I found a gray hair in this gorgeous mane of mine."

"I've found several recently on my head," Fred said.

Katie playfully slapped her husband. "Honestly, you're twenty-four years old. I personally know for a fact that every single strand of hair on your gorgeous head is red. Stop goofing around with your poor sister's life."

Alicia nodded. "George, I love you but Ginny is your only sister. You need to be nicer to her. She's an adult now and she can make her own decisions. She doesn't need you to run her life for her."

George moaned. "But I want to run her life. It's so much more fun that letting her live her own life. Honestly, she needs me to run her life for her."

"No she doesn't," Molly Weasley said. "Ginny is an adult and she doesn't need her brothers trying to run her life for her. She needs to live her own life. Let her grow up boys. All of you just let your sister grow up. Do it for me, please."

"Oh fine," the twins moaned in unison.

"Thank you," their mother said.

After dinner, Ginny and Oliver were in the living room playing with Ginny's fourteen nieces and nephews. George and Alicia were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in kitchen, Fred and Katie were out taking a walk, Charlie and Maya were upstairs talking, Ron had gone over to the Potters', and Bill and Angelina had gone with Ron. This left Ginny and Oliver in charge of the children. Bill and Angelina's oldest son, Alex, ran to the window. "Auntie Ginny, Uncle Oliver, look it's snowing!"

Oliver followed the boy to the window. "It is. It looks like we may have a white Christmas after all."

"Really? Are we really going to have a white Christmas?" squealed Larissa, Maya and Charlie's five-year-old. "My mummy loves white Christmases. She says in Romania, where she grew up, they have white Christmas every single year. She'll be so happy if we have white Christmas this year."

"Well," Oliver said. "Your mum will be very happy because it looks like we're going to have a blizzard."

"We already are," Katie said bursting into the room. She and Fred had just come in. "It's beautiful out there but it's impossible to see two inches in front of your face. The snow is coming down like there's no tomorrow."

"There's no tomorrow, Auntie Katie?" Larissa said with a look of fear pervading her face. "Why isn't there going to be any tomorrow?"

Oliver picked up the little girl. "That's not what Aunt Katie said. She said it was snowing like there's no tomorrow but there is going to be a tomorrow. I promise you. You'll wake up tomorrow morning and tomorrow will be here."

"Okay," Larissa said reluctantly. She was still a little confused. "Uncle Oliver, are you going to marry Auntie Ginny? My daddy says you should and my mummy says she agrees but you should wait a little longer. Daddy says you two should get married now."

"Really?" Oliver asked, sitting down with the little girl in his lap. "Why do they think that?"

"Daddy says that you make Auntie Ginny happier than he's ever seen her. You make her complete."

"Really?" Oliver said thoughtfully.

"Really!" Larissa said with a smile. "I like you. You're the best uncle ever. You're not crazy like Uncle Fred and Uncle George, you're not weird like Uncle Percy, you're not always in love with weird ladies like Uncle Ron, you're not always busy like Uncle Bill, but you play with me all the time. I like you." She kissed his cheek and gave him a hug. "I would be very happy if you'd marry Auntie Ginny."

Oliver smiled. "Well, then when I ask her to marry me, you'll be among the first to know. But that day won't be for a while, probably not until the end of this school year."

"Cool!" Larissa said with a smile. She hopped out of his lap and ran over to Katie who was watching Maggie and Callie play on the floor. "Uncle Oliver says he's going to ask you to marry him at the end of the school year."

Ginny looked at Oliver and smiled. "Well, I love him very much and hope that he loves me in kind."

Oliver smiled and went over to her. Then he kissed her.

Top of Form


	12. A merry Christmas okay maybe not

On Christmas Eve morning, Oliver woke up to find Larissa and Alex in the living room sitting by the Christmas tree. "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing," Alex said as he ran over to the couch. "We weren't doing anything at all. Right, Larissa?"

Larissa nodded, trying to look innocent. "We haven't done a thing. We were just counting how many presents we each have under the tree. I have a lot and so does Alex."

Oliver nodded. "Okay, that's good. I was just making sure you two weren't opening your presents and then taping them shut again," he said as he picked up the magical tape dispense sitting next to Larissa. "I'll just go put this back in the kitchen before your grandmother finds out that it has gone missing."

Larissa hugged his leg and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best person who ever lived!"

Oliver patted her head. "I wouldn't go that far, but you're welcome."

A few minutes later, Ginny came downstairs with Kallie. When she found Oliver in the kitchen, she kissed him. "How's the most wonderful man in the world?" she asked.

"I don't know," Oliver said modestly and teasingly. "I'll let you know after I meet him."

Kallie was fussing and Ginny put her on the ground. Kallie stopped fussing and starting crawling around the floor, investigating everything. Oliver looked at Ginny. "We need to talk about something."

Ginny sat down at the table. "What?"

"You know how your brothers want me to propose on New Year's Eve?" Oliver said slowly. She nodded and he went on. "Well, I love you and I want to marry you but I'm not sure that now is a good time in my life to start planning a wedding and all that stuff. You know, with all the things going on in my family right now. I have to help my parents deal with Helena and Beatrice and I'm not sure that now is a good time to take on the responsibility of a family. I don't know that I could give you and Kallie the time and attention you need. I want to but I don't know if now is the right time."

Ginny nodded. "I wasn't expecting you to propose to me on New Year's Eve. I know you're busy right now. Oliver, I love you but I'm not expecting to get married right away. I know that right now the most important thing for you is to make sure that your sisters are all right. I love you and I want to marry you but I'm willing to wait until you're ready to get married. I love you and I'll wait for you."

Oliver kissed her. "Thank you. I love you even more for that."

Then Kallie clutched Oliver's leg and started pulling herself into a standing position. When she was standing up, she gurgled and looked up at Oliver and grinned. Then she said, "Dada, dada."

Ginny gasped. "Oh my gosh, my baby's talking! My baby's talking! She called Oliver 'dada'!"

Oliver scooped Callie up in his arms with a huge smile on his face. He kissed her forehead and she squealed, "Dada!"

Mrs. Weasley ran in. "Did she say what I think she said? Did she just call Oliver 'dada'?"

"She did," Ginny said, proudly. "My baby girl is talking."

"That's so wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley said. "Oh, Kallie, I'm so proud of you."

Oliver looked at the little girl in his arms. "Do you hear that, Kallie? Your grandmother is proud of you."

Callie smiled and grabbed Oliver's shirt. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "Dada," she said with a satisfied smile.

Ginny smiled and walked over to Oliver and Kallie. She put her hand on her daughter's back. Kallie looked at her mother and gurgled. Oliver smiled at Ginny as Mrs. Weasley said, "You three look like a family. It's so sweet."

Oliver smiled as Ginny laughed. Ginny looked at Oliver and Kallie. Even though Kallie didn't look much like Oliver, there was a kind of father-daughter chemistry there that seemed so thick you could cut it with a knife. It was so sweet, like her mother said.

Later that day, Oliver was sitting in his room looking at a picture of Ginny. She was wonderful. And Kallie was such an amazing kid. She called him "dada." He was so happy. He knew Ginny was thrilled too. Kallie thought that he was her daddy and as far as he was concerned it was going to stay that way. Kallie was never going to know about Michael Corner until she had to. If that meant she never knew about him, so be it. Michael Corner didn't deserve Ginny and Kallie. But then there were times when Oliver wasn't sure he deserved them either. Sometimes she seemed like she was too wonderful to be real. She was so sensitive, so understanding. She'd helped him deal with his problem-child sisters. She was so calm with Helena. Every time he wanted to kill her, Ginny would calm both of them down. She knew how to handle everything Helena was dealing with. Sometimes he found himself wondering if this was all a dream or if it was too good to be true. But it wasn't; it was all real, wonderfully real.

Ginny was sitting in the rocking chair in her bedroom with Callie in her lap. She looked at her little girl. "You really love Oliver don't you?" she said to the little girl.

"Dada," Callie replied. She smiled and repeated her word.

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, Oliver's a good guy. I love him and he loves me. Best of all he loves you, too. He really cares about both of us. How many single mothers get lucky enough to get an amazing guy who really loves them and their child who can live with the fact that the child isn't theirs? Trust me, kid; there aren't many guys like that out there. Kallie girl, you and I are really lucky to have Oliver."

Kallie gurgled.

Ginny smiled. "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?"

"Ginny, she's really intelligent, but I don't think she understands this," a voice said from the doorway. Ginny looked up to see Charlie standing in the doorway.

Charlie sat down next to his sister on the bed. "I'm really glad to see you with Oliver. He's a good guy and he really cares about you. I'm really happy to see you in a relationship like this. You've dated a few sleaze balls in your time and so I'm glad to see you with someone who really cares about you and who can give you what you deserve."

Ginny smiled. "He is a great guy, isn't he?"

"The absolute best you could find," Charlie confirmed. "You couldn't find a better guy anywhere. And best of all, we don't need to beat him up to make him behave himself around you."

Ginny looked at her older brother. "You wanted to beat up Colin?"

"Oh, yeah," Bill said from the doorway. He walked over and sat down on the other side of Ginny. "We wanted to kill him. He had no clue how to treat our little sister. You're a princess and he treated you like you were a scullery maid."

Ginny hugged him. "You're the best oldest brother a girl could ask for." She turned to Charlie. "And you're the best second oldest brother a girl could ask for."

"Well, you're the best little sister ever," Bill said. "I don't know what I'd do without my cute little sister. You always defend my hair to Mum."

"I love your hair. I don't see why Mum wants to cut it so badly." Bill still had long hair now that he was married with children. He was too fond of his hair to cut it.

"Mum wants to cut your hair because she thinks long hair makes you a punk or something," Charlie said.

Bill rolled his eyes. "I'm a thirty-four-year-old married man who has three children and she thinks I'm a punk. Do I look like a punk?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, you look like a banker. You look like a boring, old accountant."

"Thanks a whole heap," Bill said sarcastically.

That night all the children went to bed uncharacteristically early. Then all the adults helped stuff the stockings and finish putting the presents under the tree. After that was done, Ginny went out in the backyard to think for a little while. This Christmas was yet another Christmas without Percy. She couldn't understand him. His devotion to the Ministry was more important to him than his devotion to his family. She could understand that he felt that defending Penny was more important than defending his family but she had insulted the family. She walked down to the now frozen-over pond. She and Percy used to have their special talks here. She hadn't talked to him, really talked to him, in ages, not since the summer before her third year. She didn't know what was going on with him anymore. She used to be able to read his moods but now he was closed down like a locked house.

"You know, you shouldn't be out here by yourself when it's cold and dark," a masculine voice said from behind her. It sounded familiar but wasn't one of her brothers who were currently at home and it wasn't Oliver or Harry either. She turned around.

"Percy!" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Penny and I had a fight and I need a place to stay," he said slowly. "She kicked me out."

"Why, may I ask, did she kick you out?" Ginny demanded.

"She found me snogging with my secretary," Percy said, deliberately avoiding his sister's eyes. "It wasn't a big deal. I mean it's not like Penny and Cassie are the only women in my life. There are plenty of other women that I'm involved with."

"Percival Anthony Weasley!" Ginny shrieked. "That is disgusting and crude. You're not only cheating on your wife but you're cheating on her with several women. That is sick, wrong, and un-Weasley-like. You're a disgrace to this family. I'm going to tell Mum."

"You can't. You wouldn't. She'll kill me," Percy said, his thoughts disjointed.

"I can. I will. And yes, she will kill you," Ginny replied as she hurried off towards the house and Percy ran off towards the woods.

The next morning, Percy was sleeping on the couch when Ginny was dragged into the living room by her nieces and nephews. She was with her siblings and parents as well as Harry and Hermione. They had all woken up to Alex and Larissa running up and down the halls screaming. Arthur, John, and Nicholas had joined them a few minutes later. Then no one could sleep and they all headed downstairs to open presents.

"Percy!" Charlie yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Penny kicked him out," Ginny said coldly as Percy woke up. "He was having an affair or twenty."

"What?" Mrs. Weasley gasped. "You've been fooling around on poor Penelope?"

"Mum, have you forgotten how that little bitch insulted our entire family back in August?" Charlie yelled. "She's an idiot and Percy would do well to get rid of her."

Immediately all the adults erupted into a storm of noise. For a good ten minutes they all yelled at each other and at Percy. Finally, Larissa screamed, "Be quiet! I want to open my presents. You're all ruining Christmas!"

All the adults stared at her. She went on. "I don't care what happened with Uncle Percy and Aunt Penny. I just want my Christmas presents. It's Christmas so stop yelling and let's open our presents."

"She's right," Ron said slowly.

"I'll only celebrate Christmas if Percy leaves," Mrs. Weasley said. "He's a skunk. I don't care if he's my son; I want him out of my house. He's being a horrible husband."

"Mum, I'm getting a divorce," Percy interrupted.

"I don't care," she said. "I want you to leave now."

"If that's what you want," Percy said as he left.

"Now let's have Christmas," Harry said. "There are some munchkins here who will be very unhappy if we don't."

"All right," Mrs. Weasley said. "Let's open presents."

"Yeah!" screamed all the grandchildren who could talk.

Ginny received many books and gift certificates from her family while Kallie received toys, clothes, and teething rings. But it was Oliver's gift that really delighted Ginny. He gave her a photograph of Ginny and Kallie that someone had taken when they hadn't been paying attention. It was beautiful, somewhat like a mother and child painting. Ginny gave Oliver a book about Arithmancy. It was a corny Christmas but it was fun and there was much smooching under the mistletoe.


End file.
